Department for Transport

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much in grant funding the Government has made available through the on-street residential chargepoint grant scheme in (a) Barnsley, (b) South Yorkshire, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber and (d) the UK in each year since 2010.

Michael Ellis: No proposals have been received from, and therefore no awards have been made to, local authorities in (a) Barnsley, (b) South Yorkshire, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber under the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme to date. The Government has allocated grant funding through the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme in the UK in each year since 2010 as follows:2016/17 - £1,000,000.002017/18 - £1,500,000.002018/19 - £2,000,000.002019/20 - £2,500,000.00

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total amount of funding through the Office of Low Emission Vehicles' electric vehicle homecharge scheme was in (a) Barnsley, (b) South Yorkshire, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber and (d) the UK in each year since 2010.

Michael Ellis: The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) was introduced in 2015. The total amount of funding awarded through the EVHS to applications from private plug-in vehicle owners for each of the requested areas is as follows:  a) Barnsleyb) South Yorkshirec) Yorkshire and the Humberd) UKSeptember 2014£3,498£9,738£89,409£1,407,5632015£12,600£95,900£262,982£3,924,3832016£24,887£122,887£582,937£7,458,2242017£22,500£136,900£678,732£8,943,6242018£31,000£167,500£758,799£10,423,7242019*£6,500£28,000£168,500£2,360,240 *figure for 2019 up to the start of April.

A14: Bridges

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many days the A14 Orwell Bridge has been closed in each year since 2000.

Michael Ellis: YearTotal Closures2015 (from 1 April)12016220172201862019 (to 30 June)2 The closure summary above is categorised as follows:YearHigh WindsSuicideRoad Traffic Incident2015 (from 1 April)0012016200201720020185102019 (to 30 June)200   Roadworks closures have not been included in the above summaries because of the way Highways England record roadworks data. Their records do not identify the Orwell Bridge as a specific section, nor do their records differentiate between a complete closure or a lane closure.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Derelict Land: Regeneration

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is available from the UK Government for devolved regions to regenerate former industrial sites.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government has devolved over £9 billion to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) in England between 2015 and 2021. LEPs are investing that money according to their individual priorities.BEIS has supported businesses through the BEIS Energy Innovation Programme providing funding. For example BEIS allocated £500,000 to Kite Power Solutions in Glasgow to develop a high altitude wind power generating system that uses kites to capture wind energy, and up to £750,000 to redT Energy for their flow battery technology cost reduction programme in Livingston.Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), the Government has allocated £1.7bn to ISCF challenges over two waves of investment. Funding from the ISCF has supported technologies and future industries which benefit a number of devolved regions. For example £36 million was given to the ABC in Swansea to support the construction sector and £13 million was given to Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Scotland for the pharma industry

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what preparations his Department is making for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement; and how much funding has been allocated to those preparations.

Chris Skidmore: As a responsible Government, we’ve been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal.HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as £412m over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Autumn Statement 2016); £286m of additional funding for 2017/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 2017/18); over £1.5 billion for 2018/19 (Supplementary Estimates 2018/19); and over £2 billion for 2019/20 (Main Estimates 2019/20).This funding is to cover all exit scenarios and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU. Work on no-deal exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other EU exit work, given the significant overlap in plans in many cases.

Science: Research

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support scientific human-relevant research methods.

Chris Skidmore: As part of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy and the Government’s commitment to maintaining the UK’s position as a world leader in research and innovation, we are investing in identifying better ways to treat and prevent disease and to advance the health of people worldwide. Advances in biomedical science and technologies – including stem cell research, in vitro systems that mimic the function of human organs, imaging and new computer modelling techniques – are all providing new opportunities to support scientific human-relevant research.

New Businesses: Disclosure of Information

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who (a) Companies House and (b) HMRC share information on business owners with when a limited company is set up.

Kelly Tolhurst: Companies House collects information on business owners (subscribers, who are the company’s initial shareholders, directors, and persons with significant control in a company) when a limited company is set up. The registrar of companies is under a statutory duty to make this information freely available to the public. Any person may inspect this information and require a copy of it. The registrar of companies does this through a variety of means, such as through our online service - Companies House Service, Companies House Direct and WebCheck - through our Contact Centre and through data and image products.There is some engagement with HMRC where companies register for corporation and PAYE tax as an employer which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/set-up-your-company-for-corporation-tax?step-by-step-nav=37e4c035-b25c-4289-b85c-c6d36d11a763.However, under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 HMRC does not disclose customer information.

New Businesses: Disclosure of Information

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what personal information of a business owner is placed in the public domain when a limited company is set up.

Kelly Tolhurst: Companies House collects information on business owners (subscribers, who are the company’s initial shareholders, directors, and persons with significant control in a company) when a limited company is set up. The registrar of companies is under a statutory duty to make this information freely available to the public. Any person may inspect this information and require a copy of it. The registrar of companies does this through a variety of means, such as through our online service - Companies House Service, Companies House Direct and WebCheck - through our Contact Centre and through data and image products.There is some engagement with HMRC where companies register for corporation and PAYE tax as an employer which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/set-up-your-company-for-corporation-tax?step-by-step-nav=37e4c035-b25c-4289-b85c-c6d36d11a763.However, under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 HMRC does not disclose customer information.

Post Offices

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many post office branches are currently being served by a (a) outreach and (b) mobile service; and how many of those post office branches are awaiting a permanent location.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The management of the Post Office network is an operational matter for Post Office Limited. I have therefore asked Alisdair Cameron, the Group interim Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Office: Pay

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who attended the summit for the sub-postmasters pay review which was announced and convened on 13 June 2019; and when that group is next scheduled to meet.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the key role postmasters play in ensuring Post Office branches thrive and remain at the heart of communities across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. Below is the list of attendees from the working group meeting which took place on Thursday 13 June 2019: Kelly Tolhurst – Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial StrategyCarl Creswell – Director, Professional Business Services, Retail and PostCalum Greenhow – Chief Executive Officer, NFSPPeter Hall – Head of Policy and Research, NFSPTim Boothman – Chair and Director for the North West, NFSPStuart Rogers – Executive Director (South West), NFSP and Postmaster of Ashburton Post Office.Alisdair Cameron – Interim Chief Executive Officer, Post Office LimitedDebbie Smith – Chief Executive, Retail, Post Office LimitedAlice Cookson – Head of Corporate Affairs, Post Office LimitedNick Beal – Head of Agents & Development, Post Office Limited Other members of the Post Office Policy team also attended this meeting. The date of the next working group meeting will reconvene on 15 October at 9 am.

Post Office: Pay

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the terms of reference are of the sub-postmasters pay review.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business.The review of Postmasters Pay is being undertaken internally by Post Office Limited. As such, the terms of reference of the review are an operational matter for Post Office Limited. I have therefore asked Alisdair Cameron, the Group interim Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Office: Pay

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timescale is for the sub-postmasters pay review.

Kelly Tolhurst: Post Office Limited’s review of postmaster pay is expected to be concluded in the Autumn and the implementation of the recommendations is expected to happen in the 2020/21 financial year.

Post Office: Pay

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what funding has been made available by the Post Office Ltd to pay for the outcome of the sub-postmasters pay review; and whether that funding is to be additional money to pay sub-postmasters.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. The postmasters pay review is being conducted internally by Post Office Limited. Post Office Limited has returned to profitability after 16 years of losses and the Company is now exploring ways to share the growing income more widely with postmasters.

Post Office: Pay

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Post Office Ltd will be required to ballot all postmasters on the outcome of the sub-postmasters pay review.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The review of Postmasters Pay is being undertaken internally by Post Office Limited and is therefore an operational matter for Post Office Limited. I have asked Alisdair Cameron, the Group interim Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Office: Pay

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Subpostmasters Pay Review will ensure that Postmasters will not receive less than the national minimum wage after the deduction of legitimate expenses for each hour they are required to work.

Kelly Tolhurst: Since the start of the Network Transformation Programme in 2012 it has become crucial for Post Office services to be combined with a good retail offer to be successful. The complementary nature of the two businesses operating together enable the retailer to maximise profits in today’s competitive retail environment. Postmasters are self-employed, independent businesspeople and therefore National Minimum Wage legislation does not apply. However, Government and Post Office Limited are committed to ensure that running a Post Office is attractive and sustainable for postmasters and the review of postmasters pay will focus on achieving this.

Post Office: Pay

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Subpostmaster Pay Review will include provisions for the Sub Postmaster to be paid for annual leave to conform with the Working Time Regulations.

Kelly Tolhurst: The aim of this review is to carry out a comprehensive assessment of postmasters’ remuneration from post office products and identify products and services that could see an increase in the variable fees paid to postmasters. Government is committed to ensuring that running a post office is attractive and sustainable for postmasters, who are self-employed, independent business owners. By virtue of their self-employed status, annual leave entitlements and the Working Time Regulations do not apply.

Post Offices

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many post office branches advertised on the Post Office business opportunities website are (a) hard to place, (b) stranded branches and (c) stuck offices.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The management of the Post Office network is an operational matter for Post Office Limited. I have therefore asked Alisdair Cameron, the Group interim Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House

Boilers

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his Answer 11 June 2019 to Question 258961 on Boilers, whether the variables listed in that answer apply to the heating system and not the boiler.

Chris Skidmore: The variables stated in the answer to Q258961 on 11 June 2019, apply to the in situ test context for the boiler, not to the heating system. The required test conditions for the boiler are described in BS 15502-1, sections 8.1.1 and 8.1.2, unless otherwise specified elsewhere in the standard for specific cases. These conditions include for example requirements on the preparation of test gases, test pressures, test room ventilation, ambient temperature, protection from solar radiation, physical mounting conditions, measurement conditions and tolerances, insulation of the test rig, establishment of thermal equilibrium, conditional control settings and several other similar items requiring closely controlled test room conditions.

Boilers

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 266632 on Boilers, if he will publish the (a) country and (b) organisation that each of the 34 members of the CEN committee comes from.

Chris Skidmore: A list of the CEN committee members can be found here:https://standards.cen.eu/dyn/www/f?p=CENWEB:5.

Boilers

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his Answer or 19 June 2019 to Question 266634, Boilers, what information his Department holds on any requirements to disable or remove any parts of the boiler in order to perform or complete the test.

Chris Skidmore: As stated in the Answer of 19 June 2019 to Question 266634, test conditions are specified in BS EN 15502-1 to ensure that the test results are repeatable and comparable. For example section 8.1.2.5 prescribes the requirement for tests to take place under thermal equilibrium conditions, with precautions taken to prevent thermostats or adjustable controls or an electronic temperature control system operating and affecting the gas rate, unless necessary for the specific test being conducted. The standard requires these precautions, where necessary, rather than stating an absolute requirement to disable or remove such boiler controls.

Energy

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress the Government has made on the 2030 Energy Strategy.

Chris Skidmore: The EU’s 2030 Energy Strategy as agreed in 2014 set a framework for climate and energy for the period 2021 to 2030. The EU subsequently adopted the ‘Clean Energy for all Europeans’ legislative package implementing this Strategy.Under this legislation, Member States are required to set out their domestic objectives, policies and measures covering the five dimensions of the EU’s Energy Union from 2021 to 2030 in National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP). The Government published the UK’s draft NECP in January 2019. On 18 June, the European Commission published non-binding recommendations for the UK’s draft Plan, and the Government will carefully consider and respond to these as we prepare our final version of the Plan.

Climate Change

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate cross-governmental co-operation on tackling climate change.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate cross-governmental co-operation on tackling climate change.

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate cross-governmental co-operation on tackling climate change.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate cross-governmental co-operation on tackling climate change.

Chris Skidmore: Tackling climate change is a shared endeavour between all Government departments. BEIS Ministers and officials regularly engage with their counterparts across government on clean growth matters including delivery of the Clean Growth Strategy and progress against our carbon budgets.

Electric Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to make the UK a world leader in electric car manufacturing.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. Through our Industrial Strategy and landmark Automotive Sector Deal, we are placing the UK at the forefront of new automotive technology development. Government and industry have committed £1 billion over 10 years to 2023 through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC). Government has also committed £274m to the Faraday Battery Challenge, and circa £80m in the last Budget to the Stephenson Challenge, newly named ‘Driving the Electric Revolution’.In May 2018, as part of the Future of Mobility Grand Challenge, my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister launched our mission to put the UK to be at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles and for all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040. The Road to Zero strategy sets out a clear pathway to zero emissions. In order to achieve this, we are investing nearly £1.5bn between April 2015 and March 2021 with grants available for plug in vehicles, schemes to support chargepoint infrastructure and grant funding to support R&D into cleaner vehicle technologies.There are a number of manufacturers already producing electric vehicles in the UK or with ambitious plans to begin production in coming years. The Nissan Leaf – manufactured in Sunderland - is currently the UK’s best-selling electric vehicle. From later this year, BMW’s MINI Electric – launched this month – will be made at its Oxford plant. Jaguar Land Rover also announced this month its commitment to invest in building a new range of electric vehicles at its Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham, and the first of the new vehicles to be produced will be the new, all-electric Jaguar XJ. In September 2018, Aston Martin Lagonda announced that its new production facility in Wales will become the home of its electric vehicle range.Global demand for UK designed, engineered and manufactured vehicles is strong and the industry has one of the highest productivity levels in Europe. In 2018 the UK was the second largest market for ultra-low emission vehicles and the fourth largest market for battery electric vehicles in the European Union. The UK is also global leader in the development and manufacture of electric vehicles; in 2018 a fifth of battery electric cars sold in Europe were made in the UK. So far in 2019, sales of battery electric vehicles have increased significantly, up by 60% over the same period in 2018. There are 200,000 ultra-low emission battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles registered in the UK.This Government will continue to work closely with the automotive industry, to ensure that it can succeed globally long into the future as it invests in electric car manufacturing. We are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for the automotive sector.

Business: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in April 2018 in Belfast, what progress he has made in developing a business strategy for Northern Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Domestic Appliances: Carbon Emissions

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to inform the public of the (a) need to de-carbonise heat and (b) potential changes required to domestic appliances.

Chris Skidmore: Heating our homes, businesses and industry accounts for nearly half of all energy use in the UK and a third of our carbon emissions. Meeting our emission reduction targets implies decarbonising nearly all heat in buildings and most industrial processes. Given the diversity of heat demand, no one solution can provide the best option for everyone – a mix of technologies and customer options will need to be available, potentially bringing extensive change for consumers. Public awareness of the need to decarbonise heat, and the potential impacts of doing so, is currently low. This needs to change to enable a fully informed debate about long term options. In order to support this debate, BEIS officials have commissioned research to improve our understanding of current public awareness, attitudes and preferences for different approaches to decarbonising heat, and explore options for engaging stakeholders and the wider public in the development of heat policy. The Department will publish a new roadmap for policy on heat decarbonisation next year.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Israeli Settlements: Imports

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to tackle the import to the UK of products from illegal settlements in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​There are currently no plans for UK legislation to ban the import of products from illegal settlements. We do not however recognise the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), including the settlements, as part of Israel. In order to enable consumers to make a more fully informed decision concerning the products they buy, in December 2009 the UK introduced voluntary guidelines to enable produce from Israeli settlements in the OPTs to be specifically labelled as such. We understand that multiple British retailers who have stocked settlement produce have adopted the labelling policy recommended in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs voluntary guidance.

Khaleda Zia

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the imprisonment of the main opposition leader in Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, on political stability in that country; and what representations he has made to his Bangladeshi counterpart on that matter.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We continue to stress to the Government of Bangladesh, both in public and in private, the importance of respect for human rights and the rule of law. We expect those in detention including Khaleda Zia to be treated in accordance with Bangladesh's international commitments on human rights, and we regularly engage with the Government of Bangladesh on the treatment of those in detention and on the integrity and independence of the judicial process.The Foreign Secretary has written to Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen this year to express our concerns about the general election in December 2018 and to encourage the Government of Bangladesh to maintain dialogue with opposition parties and civil society.The Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific reiterated these concerns and the importance of respect for human rights when he met the Prime Minister and ministers during his visit to Bangladesh in April 2019.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what preparations his Department is making for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement; and how much funding has been allocated to those preparations.

Sir Alan Duncan: We remain focused on ensuring our smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible. As part of this, we continue to prepare for all Brexit scenarios. We are continuing to make sensible decisions about the timing and pace at which some of this work is progressing. This includes working closely with our overseas network and other Government Departments to put in place a range of mitigations to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal.The Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as £412 million over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Autumn Statement 2016); £286 million of additional funding for 2017/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 2017/18); over £1.5 billion for 2018/19 (Supplementary Estimates 2018/19); and over £2 billion for 2019/20 (Main Estimates 2019/20). This funding is to cover all exit scenarios and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK's departure from the EU. Work on no-deal exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other EU exit work, given the significant overlap in plans in many cases. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also received £5.6 million of additional funding in 2018/19, for no-deal civil contingency planning.We continue to keep advice on how people should prepare updated on gov.uk/euexit.

Saudi Arabia: Political Prisoners

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabia counterpart on the release of senior political detainees held without charge in Saudi Arabia.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are concerned by use of detention for political purposes in Saudi Arabia. We raise concerns regularly and freely, using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels, including our Ambassador and Embassy team in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia: Political Prisoners

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the health and welfare of political detainees in Saudi Arabia.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are concerned about the health and welfare of political detainees in Saudi Arabia. We raise our concerns regularly and freely, using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels, including our Ambassador and Embassy team in Riyadh.

Jamal Khashoggi

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to review the strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia as a result of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Government condemns Jamal Khashoggi’s killing in the strongest possible terms and is clear that anyone found responsible must be held fully accountable. The UK was signatory to the joint statement on 7 March at the UN Human Rights Council which reiterated condemnation of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. The statement called for investigations into the killing to be prompt; effective and thorough; independent and impartial; and transparent. There are areas where we disagree with Saudi Arabia on policy but no aspect of our relationship prevents us from addressing matters of concern. Our ability to have frank conversations rests on the strength on our relationship.

Iran: Nuclear Fuels

Mary Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to coordinate with his P5+1 partners a response to reports Iran has exceeded its permitted stockpile of low-enriched uranium.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are extremely concerned about Iran’s announcement. We will continue working with our Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) partners – in particular with Germany and France – to keep the nuclear deal in place. We have been consistently clear with Iran that our commitment to the JCPoA depends on full Iranian compliance. We urge Iran to reverse the steps it has taken. We believe maintaining the nuclear deal is in the best interests of Iran, the region and the UK.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking with the UN Security Council to ensure that de-escalation zones in Idlib, Syria are recognised by all states.

Dr Andrew Murrison: At recent meetings of the UN Security Council on Syria, including an emergency session on Idlib on 18 June, we have repeatedly called on the Syrian regime and Russia to end their current offensive in Idlib and to respect the ceasefire agreed between Russia and Turkey last year at Sochi. The Prime Minister raised the urgent need to restore the ceasefire in Idlib with President Putin and President Erdogan at the G20 Summit on 28-29 June. ​

Iran: Nuclear Fuels

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports that Iran has quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are seriously concerned about Iranian statements about its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), including Iran crossing its low enriched uranium stockpile limit on 1 July, and are working with our JCPoA partners to keep the nuclear deal in place. We have been consistently clear that our commitment to the JCPoA depends on Iran complying in full with the terms of the deal. We believe maintaining the nuclear deal is in the best interests of Iran, the region and the UK.

Armed Conflict: Children

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he bring forward a new protection of civilians strategy to help safeguard children in conflict zones throughout the world.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Government is currently reviewing its strategy on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, and is committed to ensuring that its approach benefits all civilians, including children and other vulnerable groups, and that it reflects the changing international landscape and the complexity of many conflicts. The Government welcomes recent research carried out by academics and NGOs in this field and is taking their work into account as it undertakes its review. The Government aims to complete the review by the end of 2019.

India: Christianity

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Indian counterpart on attacks on Christians by Hindu activists.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The British High Commission in New Delhi, and our network of Deputy High Commissions, maintain a continuous assessment of the human rights situation across India and raise issues with Indian officials where appropriate. We have raised Christian persecution with the Indian Government. Most recently, on 25 March 2019, the British High Commission highlighted the importance of tackling Christian persecution with India’s Ministry of External Affairs.We will continue to engage with India on the full range of human rights matters, working with Union and State Governments, and with non-governmental organisations, to build capacity and share expertise to promote human rights for all.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Overtime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the total amount of unpaid overtime worked by staff in her Department in the last 24 months.

John Penrose: The Northern Ireland Office offers a flexible working scheme to all staff, including time off in lieu and paid overtime is available if operationally required. No estimate of the total amount of unpaid overtime worked by staff in the last 24 months has been made.

Department of Health and Social Care

Hyperactivity: Research

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 6 June 2018, Official Report col 306, where the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has allocated the £800,000 in research funding to help identify existing services and gaps in provision for young adults with ADHD.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department invests over £1 billion a year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. It is not usual practice for the NIHR to ring-fence a proportion of its budget for research into particular topics or conditions.Through its Health Services and Delivery Research programme, the NIHR awarded £800,000 to researchers at the University of Exeter, working with the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Penninsula (PenCLAHRC) and the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, for ‘The Children and adolescents with ADHD in transition between children’s services and adult services (CATCh-uS)’ project. This is the award mentioned in the oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 6 June 2018.

Social Services

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the Green Paper on social care.

Caroline Dinenage: The Green Paper remains a priority for this Government and we will be publishing it at the earliest opportunity.

Pharmacy: Migrant Workers

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the exclusion of pharmacists from the shortage occupation list and the effect of that exclusion on the community pharmacy sector.

Stephen Hammond: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with the Home Secretary on a range of subjects including immigration policy and its impact on the health and social care sectors.The Government is committed to ensuring that the National Health Service has the right number of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals that it needs. Latest NHS Digital data shows there are 4,300 more pharmacists in March 2019 than there were in March 2010.

Healthy Start Scheme: Greater London

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many families are in receipt of Healthy Start vouchers in (a) Lewisham Deptford constituency, (b) London borough of Lewisham and (c) London.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is held at local authority level. Between 29 April 2019 and 26 May 2019 36,375 households in London and 1,601 households in the London borough of Lewisham were in receipt of Healthy Start vouchers.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what preparations his Department is making for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement; and how much funding has been allocated to those preparations.

Stephen Hammond: As a responsible Government, we continue preparations to minimise any disruption in a ‘no deal’ scenario. We are putting in place a range of mitigations, these include:- leading a procurement exercise to secure an ‘express freight service’, with the aim to secure transport of small medical supply consignment into the United Kingdom within the 24 hours if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal;- changing or clarifying regulatory requirements so that companies can continue to sell their products in the UK if we have ‘no deal’;- working with industry to improve trader readiness in preparation for the new customs procedures that will come into force on day one if we leave the EU without a deal; and- advising travellers to ensure they have comprehensive travel insurance.HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and devolved administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as £412 million over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Autumn Statement 2016); £286 million of additional funding for 2017/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 2017/18); over £1.5 billion for 2018/19 (Supplementary Estimates 2018/19); and over £2 billion for 2019/20 (Main Estimates 2019/20).This funding is to cover all exit scenarios and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU. Work on ‘no deal’ exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other EU exit work, given the significant overlap in plans in many cases.

Cancer: Greater London

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made between the annual cancer mortality rate in (a) the London borough of Hounslow and (b) London in each of the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle cancer mortality in (i) the London borough of Hounslow and (ii) London.

Seema Kennedy: The information is not available in the format requested.

Radioisotopes: Imports

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with representatives of suppliers of medical radioisotopes on the feasibility of using air freight to import their products in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations he has received from the suppliers of medical radioisotopes on the potential risk to the import of those instruments in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on the potential risk to the import of medical radioisotopes in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

Stephen Hammond: The Government maintains that leaving the European Union with a deal is the best exit outcome and has strongly expressed its opposition to leaving without a deal, in line with the position consistently expressed by Parliament. However, leaving without a deal on 31 October 2019 remains the legal default at the end of the Article 50 extension period if no withdrawal agreement is agreed. Therefore, as a responsible Government, we will continue to prepare to minimise any disruption to the supply of medicines and medical products in a ‘no deal’ scenario.The Department continues to work closely with the devolved administrations, industry trade bodies and suppliers, the National Health Service and our other main stakeholders to ensure that we are prepared for leaving the EU without a deal in October.On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers of medicines to the United Kingdom from or via the EU or wider European Economic Area (EEA) setting out our continuing multi-layered approach to ensure the continuity of supply of all medicines and medical products in a potential ‘no deal’ exit scenario on 31 October. Further details can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/medicines-and-medical-products-supply-government-updates-no-deal-brexit-plansWe recognise that some medical radioisotopes have a short shelf life and cannot be stockpiled. Therefore, as part of the Department’s contingency planning ahead of a possible March/April 2019 ‘no deal’ scenario, where medical radioisotope products were imported to the UK from the EU or EEA via road haulage and roll-on, roll-off sea, road and rail routes, we asked suppliers to ensure that they had plans in place to air freight those products to avoid any border delays that may have arisen in a no-deal scenario. We worked extensively with these suppliers to ensure plans were in place and are continuing to do so, to ensure that robust contingency arrangements continue to be in place ahead of a possible ‘no deal’ EU exit on 31 October. The Department has not had discussions with the Civil Aviation Agency in relation to this issue as they are the Government’s expert arm’s length body for the safety, security and economic regulation of civil aviation in the UK. We are, however, working very closely with the Department for Transport.

NHS: Drugs

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the supply of medicines from other EU member states in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the ability of suppliers of medicines based in the EU to maintain medical supplies to the UK in the event that the UK leaves the EU.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his European Union counterparts on the maintenance of supply of medicines from the EU to the UK in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on the finances of medicine suppliers in the UK of stockpiling an additional six weeks supply of medicines in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent from the public purse on additional warehouse space to stockpile medicines in advance of (a) the 29 March 2019 and (b) the 31 October 2019 deadline to prepare for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: The Government maintains that leaving the European Union with a deal is the best exit outcome and has strongly expressed its opposition to leaving without a deal, in line with the position consistently expressed by Parliament. However, leaving without a deal on 31 October 2019 remains the legal default at the end of the Article 50 extension period if no withdrawal agreement is agreed. Therefore, as a responsible Government, we will continue to prepare to minimise any disruption to the supply of medicines and medical products in a ‘no deal’ scenario. The Department continues to work closely with the devolved administrations, relevant EU member states, industry trade bodies and suppliers, the National Health Service and our other main stakeholders to ensure that we are prepared for leaving the EU without a deal in October.On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers of medicines to the United Kingdom from or via the EU or European Economic Area setting out our continuing multi-layered approach to ensure the continuity of supply of all medicines and medical products in a potential ‘no deal’ scenario on 31 October. Further details can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/medicines-and-medical-products-supply-government-updates-no-deal-brexit-plansWe recognise that suppliers may incur additional storage costs for stockpiling medicines or switching to air freight We have been working closely with industry to minimise costs and support medicine suppliers taking part in the contingency programme.The provision for additional warehouse space procured for a possible 29 March ‘no deal’ exit remains available for the 31 October deadline. The Department expects to spend around £11 million over the life of these contracts.

Maraviroc: Clinical Trials

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of clinical trials of Maraviroc in each of the last three years.

Caroline Dinenage: In the last three years, four investigator initiated non-commercial clinical trials have been supported by the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN).The cost to the National Health Service of these clinical trials is limited to:- NHS Treatment Costs - the patient care costs, which would continue to be incurred if the patient care service in question continued to be provided after the research and development study had stopped.- Excess Treatment Costs (ETCs) –that result from giving patients new treatments or changing the way that care is delivered, if applicable for non-commercial research and development studies.We do not hold information on what, if any ETCs have been incurred historically by the NHS for individual clinical trials.As is standard practice for non-commercial research studies, the NIHR CRN provided NHS Support Costs to cover additional patient care costs associated with the research. Research Costs for the clinical trials were met by the research funders.

Maraviroc

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of NHS procurement options for and (b) the affordability of Maraviroc.

Seema Kennedy: NHS England runs a competitive framework tender process to assess availability and cost of drugs used to treat HIV. Maraviroc is currently commissioned and procured for HIV nationally through a tender framework by NHS England and NHS Improvement. The affordability of Maraviroc is similar to comparable HIV treatments.

Maraviroc: Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment NHS England has made of the availability of Maraviroc to patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

Seema Kennedy: We are informed by NHS England and NHS Improvement that it does not commission Maraviroc for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy as there is currently insufficient evidence to support its use in this condition.NHS England and NHS Improvement have published do not commission policy for ‘Natalizumab-induced progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in relation to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in multiple sclerosis.’Due to a lack of evidence and as it is considered experimental, it is not currently commissioned for this indication.Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/maraviroc-for-ms-urgent-policy-statement.pdf

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients: Suicide

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have taken their own lives while being detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in an (a) NHS and (b) private hospital in each of the last 10 years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: All service providers, including the National Health Service and private hospitals, must notify the Care Quality Commission when a person has died while being detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The number of deaths of patients detained under the Act and recorded as ‘self-inflicted’ is shown in the attached table.



Patient deaths, Mental Health Act 1983, 2009-18
(Word Document, 12.96 KB)

Breast Cancer: Gender Recognition

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking with women who are transitioning to men to (a) inform them about and (b) screen them for the risk of contracting breast cancer.

Seema Kennedy: In July 2017, Public Health England published a leaflet for people who are transgender or non-binary to help provide information about National Health Service population screening programmes that are available. This leaflet is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-population-screening-information-for-transgender-peopleThe leaflet helps ensure that trans people can access the screening that is most appropriate for them. The leaflet also outlines who the NHS screening programmes invite for breast screening, bowel cancer, cervical screening and abdominal aortic aneurysm screening and includes important information about all four screening programmes as well as how to access additional support and advice.Routine breast screening is available to both trans men and trans women. It is important that to access this offer, trans men and women are registered at their general practice as a female. A trans man, if registered with their general practitioner (GP) as a man, can still access breast screening if they talk to their GP to arrange a referral. This guidance can be viewed at page six of the guidance available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/814364/Screening_information_for_trans_and_non_binary_people.pdf

Prisons: Health Services

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of healthcare services to prisoners in private prisons.

Jackie Doyle-Price: No such formal assessment has been made.For the eight private prisons in England where NHS England commissions healthcare services, the same contract and performance management structures are in place that are employed across the public sector prison estate to ensure adequate service provision. These arrangements are managed regionally through quarterly contract and performance management meetings. A local partnership board structure and a local partnership agreement underpin these arrangements.

Genetics: Screening

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Genomic Healthcare Strategy will include all types of cancer.

Caroline Dinenage: Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) of cancer was a key part of the 100,000 Genomes Project and from 2019 the National Health Service will begin to offer WGS as part of clinical care for people with specific types of cancer, for which there is likely to be the greatest patient benefit from using WGS: sarcoma, and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), and children with cancer.The Government is committed to making the United Kingdom home of genomic healthcare and the National Genomic Healthcare Strategy, which we plan to launch in autumn 2019, will set out how the genomics community can work together to make the UK the global leader. The strategy will look at how genomic analysis at system-wide level can continue to be optimised for the benefit of UK patients with a range of conditions, including cancer, but it will not seek to focus in each type of cancer individually.

Genetics: Screening

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what cancer types will be offered whole genome sequencing through the Genomic Medicine Service as part of routine care in the next five years.

Seema Kennedy: As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, the National Health Service has committed to sequencing 500,000 whole genomes by 2023/24.During 2019, whole genome sequencing will be available as part of routine NHS clinical care for some patients with rare disease and cancer, where there is evidence that it is clinically effective. The conditions are outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory which specifies which genomic tests are commissioned by the NHS in England, the technology by which they are available, and the patients who will be eligible to access to a test. This is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/national-genomic-test-directories/

Genetics: Screening

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to consult with charities and patient organisations on whole genome sequencing.

Caroline Dinenage: Genomics England has consulted charities, patient groups and participants from the 100,000 Genomes Project during the development of consent materials for the use of data from whole genome sequencing in research. Genomics England has also engaged with and sought input from charities and participants as it explores how best to realise the ambition to sequence five million genomes.The NHS Genomic Medicine Centres established by NHS England to support the delivery of the 100,000 Genomes project have engaged with patients, the public and the independent sector. In addition, as part of the development of the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, NHS England is working with charities and patient organisation to help develop patient facing materials and information that will be used to support the introduction of whole genome sequencing in the National Health Service.The Government is committed to making the United Kingdom home of genomic healthcare and the National Genomic Healthcare Strategy, which we plan to launch in autumn 2019, will set out how the genomics community can work together to make the UK the global leader. The Government is consulting widely - including with charities and patient organisations - in the development of the National Genomics Healthcare Strategy.

Air Pollution: Health Hazards

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on studies carried out by the (a) National Institute for Health Research and (b) NHS Health Protection Research Unit into the effects on human health of (i) PM1 and (ii) PM0.1.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department invests over £1 billion a year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR supports a wide range of work on the health effects of air pollution through various funding streams, including research on the impacts of fine particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5). The majority of research commissioned is focussed on a wide range of pollutants and unless otherwise stated, most studies have not differentiated between PM2.5, PM1.0 and PM0.1.Information on the research projects commissioned and their findings are published by the NIHR in a dedicated journals library which can be found at the following link:https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/

Silicosis

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence his Department holds on trends in the level of co-morbidity in people with silicosis.

Seema Kennedy: This information is not held in the format requested. It is only possible to identify silicosis treated in a hospital inpatient setting and by number of finished admission episodes, rather than the number of people living with the condition.

Dental Services: South West

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists are currently accepting patients in (a) Plymouth and (b) Devon and Cornwall.

Seema Kennedy: The information is not collected in the format requested. There is no requirement for National Health Service dental practices to report whether or not they are accepting new patients to NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Department of Health and Social Care: Overtime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the amount of unpaid overtime worked by staff in his Department in the last 24 months.

Caroline Dinenage: We do not hold this information. The Department is committed to ensuring the wellbeing of their staff and their work/life balance, with line managers having responsibility for ensuring staff do not work excessive hours in line with the Working Time Regulations 1998 in respect of civil servants' working hours.

Facial Palsy: Health Services

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the way that facial palsy treatment is (a) assessed and (b) funded.

Seema Kennedy: It is for the local clinical commissioning groups to commission high-quality services that meet the needs of their local population. Decisions about treatment, including for palsy, should always be based on patients’ clinical needs and informed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines. NICE clinical guidelines make many recommendations spanning all stages of care from diagnosis to treatment of a condition. Health professionals and organisations are expected to take the guidance fully into account when deciding what treatments to give people. The NICE guidelines on the management of Bell’s Palsy can be found at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/bells-palsy#!scenario

Cattle: Slaughterhouses

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what procedures the Food Standards Agency has in place to monitor and ensure compliance with Schedule 3, Part 3, paragraph 8 of the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015.

Seema Kennedy: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Official Veterinarians and Meat Hygiene Inspectors carry out general monitoring activities that include checks and verification of the welfare of animals. Welfare verification activities carried out by the FSA team on site cover all processes involving live animals, including verification of the business operator’s own checks to ensure that birds do not show any signs of life before dressing or electrical stimulation commence. These in situ verification checks take place at different intervals throughout the production day. Post-mortem inspection of every bird destined for human consumption is carried out under the supervision of the official veterinarian; post-mortem findings may indicate welfare may have been compromised during slaughter and related operations; findings are recorded and investigated when identified.

Dementia: Health Services

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the next stage of its Challenge on Dementia builds on the progress made by (a) the Dementia Research Institute and (b) other such initiatives.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government remains strongly committed to supporting research into dementia and dementia care and the United Kingdom research community is playing a significant role in the global effort to find a cure or a major disease-modifying treatment by 2025.We are now reaching the end of our current dementia strategy ‘the Challenge on Dementia 2020’. The Department has begun work with a range of stakeholders, including from the research community, to develop a new dementia strategy for England for the period 2020 to 2025. We expect to publish this early next year.Research is one of the themes of the current dementia strategy. It will remain central to the post-2020 vision for dementia.

Members: Correspondence

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to respond to the correspondence of 28 May 2019 from the hon. Member for Glasgow Central to the Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health, Inequalities and Suicide Prevention on food for special medical purposes.

Seema Kennedy: Holding answer received on 09 July 2019



We are sorry for the delay in responding to the hon. Member’s letter of 28 May. A response will be issued shortly.

Breast Cancer: Bisphosphonates

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there has been a change of policy on how adjuvant bisphosphonates are offered to patients for the management of breast cancer treatment in the last 12 months.

Seema Kennedy: There has been no change of policy on how adjuvant bisphosphonates should be offered to patients for the management of breast cancer since the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on early and locally advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and management was updated in July 2018.The use of adjuvant bisphosphonates was one of the key areas that was covered in the update. NICE’s updated recommendations can be found at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng101/chapter/Recommendations#bisphosphonate-therapyThe guideline recommends bisphosphonates as adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with node positive invasive breast cancer and for postmenopausal women with node negative breast cancer.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to fund at least one alcohol care team or specialist in every hospital in the UK.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to fund at least one alcohol care team or specialist in every hospital.

Seema Kennedy: As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are establishing specialist Alcohol Care Teams (ACTs) in hospitals with the highest rates of alcohol harm. It is estimated that this will prevent 50,000 admissions over five years.All clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have been allocated a Health Inequalities Funding Supplement contribution to their indicative baselines. NHS England and NHS Improvement, through the Long Term Plan, have highlighted the evidence base for ACTs and indicated that where required, commissioners should utilise monies from this funding supplement to close health inequality gaps associated with alcohol dependence.Additionally, for those areas with the highest levels of demand, additional targeted monies will be invested directly to ensure the provision of optimal ACTs starting from 2020/21.Local authorities will also receive over £3 billion in 2019/20 to be used exclusively on public health including alcohol treatment services.

Hospices: Children

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value of the NHS England Children’s Hospice Grant will be in (a) 2020-21 (b) 2021-22 (c) 2022-23 and (d) 2023-24.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the total value of the children’s hospice grant does not fall below £12million between the years 2020-21 and 2023-24 inclusive.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for publishing the 2020-21 NHS England children’s hospice grant allocations.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that children’s hospices receive notice of their individual 2020-21 NHS England children’s hospice grant allocation in time to inform their budget planning for that year.

Caroline Dinenage: NHS England has committed to increase the national grant funding from £12 million to £25 million a year by 2023/24. The planned grant allocations by financial year are as follows: 2020/21 £15 million; 2021/22 £17 million; 2022/23 £21 million; 2023/24 £25 million.NHS England is undertaking a review of the current grant allocation formula which is due to complete by the end of this year. Following agreement with the sector, it is planned to notify the 2020/21 grant allocations prior to the start of 2020/21 financial year in line with National Health Service operational planning processes.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Overtime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the amount of unpaid overtime worked by staff in his Department in the last 24 months.

Kevin Foster: The Office of the Secretary of State encourages flexible working and uses flexible working policies to enable staff to have working patterns that suit both individuals’ and the Department’s needs. The Department has arrangements in place for monitoring hours worked and line managers are responsible for ensuring that employees are not working excessive hours and are compliant with the Working Time Regulations. The Department is committed to the wellbeing of staff and regularly informs them about wellbeing-related topics, including maintaining good physical and mental health.

Department for Education

Schools: Closures

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the (a) postcode, (b) local authority area and (c) rural and urban classification for each state school that has closed and not reopened in another form in each year since 2000.

Nick Gibb: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 28 June 2019.The correct answer should have been:

654 schools have closed with no direct replacement provision between 1 January 2000 and 21 June 2019. Of these, 183 were designated as rural schools. Between 1 January 2010 and 21 June 2019, 260 249 schools closed with no direct replacement provision. Of these, 104 102 were designated as rural schools. A full list can be found attached.Information about all open and closed schools in England is available on Get Information about Schools[1] (the department’s register of schools). This can be found at:www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk.The Ofsted definition of a state funded school has been used. This definition does not include local authority maintained nursery schools, alternative provision or special schools., studio schools or university technical colleges. [1] Responsibility for updating Get Information about Schools is shared between the Department, schools and local authorities and therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data.



267249_table
(PDF Document, 314.02 KB)

Nick Gibb: 654 schools have closed with no direct replacement provision between 1 January 2000 and 21 June 2019. Of these, 183 were designated as rural schools. Between 1 January 2010 and 21 June 2019, 260 249 schools closed with no direct replacement provision. Of these, 104 102 were designated as rural schools. A full list can be found attached.Information about all open and closed schools in England is available on Get Information about Schools[1] (the department’s register of schools). This can be found at:www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk.The Ofsted definition of a state funded school has been used. This definition does not include local authority maintained nursery schools, alternative provision or special schools., studio schools or university technical colleges. [1] Responsibility for updating Get Information about Schools is shared between the Department, schools and local authorities and therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data.



267249_table
(PDF Document, 314.02 KB)

Fisheries: Vocational Guidance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more school leavers to pursue a career in the fishing industry.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more school leavers to pursue a career in the video games industry.

Anne Milton: To help young people understand what they can pursue and achieve in the future, it is important that they have information on a range of jobs and careers, as well as having the opportunity to encounter a wide variety of employers in different sectors to inspire them. We are improving careers advice in schools so that young people understand the full range of careers available and how they can progress into them through both technical and academic routes. The Careers & Enterprise Company is making sure that every young person has access to encounters with employers from a range of sectors, which may include the fishing and video games industries. Information on a variety of careers, including these industries, can also be found on the National Careers Service website, which is available at: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk//.Regarding the video games industry specifically, we have introduced Computing as a statutory national curriculum subject at all four key stages and we have introduced a new Computer Science GCSE and A level. These subjects will better equip pupils with the skills and knowledge they need to pursue high-tech jobs in the future, including the development of video games, for example through the level 4 software developer apprenticeship or the level 3 digital support technician apprenticeship.

State Education

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of state schools in England are classified as (a) rural town and fringe, (b) in a sparse setting, (c) rural village and hamlet, (d) urban, (f) urban major conurbation, (g) urban minor conurbation and (h) urban city and town.

Nick Gibb: Table 1 below details the number of state[1] schools in England at each rural/urban classification. Table 2 below details the percentage of state schools in England at each rural/urban classification. Table 1 Number of schoolsRural/Urban ClassificationPrimarySecondaryAll-throughRural hamlet and isolated dwelling731484Rural hamlet and isolated dwellings in a sparse setting8330Rural town and fringe17663258Rural town and fringe in a sparse setting83331Rural village2051587Rural village in a sparse setting15361Urban city and town6422151164Urban city and town in a sparse setting24110Urban major conurbation4900112479Urban minor conurbation5531065 Table 2Rural/Urban Classification Percentage of state schoolsRural hamlet and isolated dwelling3.88%Rural hamlet and isolated dwellings in a sparse setting0.43%Rural town and fringe10.41%Rural town and fringe in a sparse setting0.58%Rural village10.50%Rural village in a sparse setting0.79%Urban city and town39.67%Urban city and town in sparse setting0.17%Urban major conurbation30.27%Urban minor conurbation3.29%[2] Information about all open and closed schools in England is available on Get Information about Schools[3] (the Department’s register of schools). This can be found at:www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk.  [1] The Ofsted definition of a state funded school has been used. This definition does not include local authority maintained nursery schools, alternative provision or special schools.[2] The percentages used have been rounded to two decimal places.[3] Responsibility for updating Get Information about Schools is shared between the Department, schools and local authorities and therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data.

Apprentices: Taxation

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's publication, Apprenticeship and levy statistics: December 2018, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the reduction in Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeship starts of 32 per cent between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

Anne Milton: The underlying principle of an apprenticeship is that it is a job, and employers are able to create the apprenticeship starts that best meet their skills needs. It is for employers to decide which standards will help to meet their skills needs.60% of standards are at Levels 2 and 3 and with 470 standards available, there is an offer at every level. Starts at Levels 2 and 3 still make up the vast majority of the programme (almost 82% in the first half of 2018-19).Our reforms are supporting a healthier balance across all levels and it is encouraging to see that apprenticeships are helping people to train in skilled occupations at all levels, and progress in their careers.

T-levels: Adult Education

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether funding will be allocated to support adult learners taking T Levels.

Anne Milton: T Levels have been designed to provide a high-quality technical study programme for students aged 16 to 19 to support entry to skilled employment in technical occupations at level 3 and above. We will consider whether they might be appropriate for some adults to study but the current focus of the government and providers is on a successful roll out of these transformational courses to the core 16-19 demographic.

Schools: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2019 to Question 270440 on Schools: Fire Regulations, if he will estimate the number of schools that have combustible timber cladding.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 08 July 2019



The Government attaches the highest priority to the safety of pupils and staff in schools.All schools in England are built to appropriate standards and comply with building regulations. They must also comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, including having an up-to-date Fire Risk Assessment and conducting regular fire drills. Schools are very safe environments as they are typically low rise, occupied during the daytime and have multiple exit routes.The Department does not hold figures on the number of schools in England that have timber cladding. Timber is used as a safe cladding material throughout the construction industry and must comply with building regulations. Should there be any issue found with the appropriate use of any building material, the Department would act immediately to ensure all schools remain safe.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have a series of ongoing safety tests on building materials and have issued advice where appropriate. This advice has focused on high rise residential buildings over 18 metres, reflecting a proportionate level of risk.Following the Grenfell Tower fire, the Department took immediate action. It undertook a survey of the all schools to identify buildings over 18 metres with aluminium composite material; and to check the appropriate fire safety measures were in place.The Department continues to update all schools on relevant advice on fire safety when issued by MHCLG and its independent expert advisory panel.

Higher Education: Antisemitism

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which higher education institutions have adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Chris Skidmore: Holding answer received on 08 July 2019



On 16 May 2019, I wrote to all higher education institutions to urge them to consider adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. I set out my view that this is a useful tool, which will help front-line services better understand and recognise instances of antisemitism. The government believes that adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism sends a clear message that antisemitic behaviour will not be tolerated, and that any instances of antisemitism will be taken very seriously. Higher education providers are autonomous organisations who are independent from the government and individually responsible for deciding whether to adopt the IHRA definition and this information is therefore not held centrally.

Contact Orders

Mr Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what records his Department holds on the number of child contact services contracts entered into by local authorities in England and Wales on an annual basis; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: Regarding the number of child contact services contracts entered into by local authorities in England and Wales, this information is not held centrally.

Children: Disadvantaged

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support the 2.3 million children estimated by the Children's Commissioner to be growing up with a vulnerable family background.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government has recently published its own analysis on the review of children in need showing the scale of children needing social care support: 1.6 million children between 2012-13 and 2017-18. Whilst official statistics show that the number of children in need of help and protection has remained broadly stable since 2010, we welcome the Commissioner’s report and its contribution to a developing evidence base. Across government, we are taking action to address childhood vulnerability, whether this is through reforming children’s social care, prioritising mental health or better protecting victims of domestic abuse. The government has also committed £920 million to the second phase of the Troubled Families Programme, which aims to achieve significant and sustained improvement for up to 400,000 families with multiple, high-cost problems. We have established a What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care to develop the evidence base on what works to support vulnerable children and families. We are also investing a further £84 million over the next 5 years through the Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme, which will support up to 20 local authorities with high or rising demand for children’s social care services to improve the support offered to vulnerable children and their families.

Adoption

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to reduce the time it takes to go through the adoption process.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government set out a strategy to radically reform the adoption system in the document ‘Adoption: a vision for change’, published in March 2016. Since 2012-13, the government’s adoption reform programme has improved the average time taken from entering care to a child being placed with their adopted family. This has decreased by 7 months to 14 months in 2017-18.

Breakfast Clubs

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to require schools to offer pupils breakfast on the morning of their exams.

Nadhim Zahawi: Schools are responsible for their day-to-day running, including their school meals service. I refer the right hon. Member for Birkenhead to the answer I gave on 5 July 2019 to Question 270292.

Schools: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of schooling were lost due to schools reducing the length of the school day as a result of insufficient funding in the 2017-18 academic year.

Nick Gibb: Information on when schools finish their school day is not held centrally.It is unacceptable for schools to shorten their working week when it is not a direct action to support and enhance their pupils’ education. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, funding for the average primary school class is £132,000, and funding for that same class of children in secondary school would be £171,000. These amounts are to cover a full five-day week in term time.All schools have the autonomy to decide the structure and duration of their school day, which includes the flexibility to decide when their school day should start and finish. The Department trusts that headteachers will do this in a sensible manner.All maintained schools are required to educate pupils for at least 380 sessions each school year. They cannot reduce the length of the school week if this would take the total number of sessions below that.

Schools: Asbestos

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the proportion of school buildings that contain asbestos; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department takes the safety of pupils, staff and visitors to schools very seriously.In 2016, the Department ran a voluntary survey to understand the proportion of school buildings that contain asbestos. 25% of schools responded and the findings showed that 83.1% had asbestos present.In March 2018, the Department launched the Asbestos Management Assurance Process to develop a more comprehensive understanding of asbestos management in the school estate to strengthen our published guidance and support. 88.4% of schools responded to the latest survey and the Department intends to publish the report on the findings before summer recess.

Higher Education: Casual Workers

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the University and College Union report entitled, Counting the costs of casualisation in higher education, published June 2019, what assessment he has made of the (a) effect of job insecurity on mental and physical health and (b) level of financial stability of Cambridge teaching staff; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: Mental health is a priority for the government, which is why my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister recently announced measures (17 June 2019) which overhaul the government’s approach to preventing mental illness. These measures included providing £1 million to the Office of Students for a competition to find innovative new ways to support mental health at universities and colleges. The Department for Education is working closely with Universities UK on embedding the Step Change programme. This calls on higher education (HE) leaders to adopt mental health as a strategic priority and take a whole-institution approach to embed a culture of good mental health practice. The University Mental Health Charter, which was announced in June 2018, is also expected to drive up standards in promoting mental health and wellbeing, positive working environments and excellent support for both students and staff.  As independent and autonomous institutions, HE providers are responsible for decisions regarding the contracts they offer to academic staff. Like all employers, HE providers, including Cambridge University have a duty of care to their staff. The department expects them to take this very seriously. We also expect universities to give due consideration to their obligations under the Equality Act (2010) and the way their employment practices affect different sections of their communities and staff at different stages of their careers. I gave a speech on 7 May 2019 that focused on early career researcher contracts. I am keen that early career academics do not get lost from policy debates, particularly around key issues such as mental health and wellbeing. The Independent Review of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, led by Professor Julia Buckingham, has recognised issues of wellbeing and the challenges that arise from the use of short and fixed-term contracts. Recommendations are currently under review and a revised concordat is expected in September 2019.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that the specification of laptops supplied to students with vision impairment through the disabled students’ allowance is updated allow updating of necessary software over the duration of degree programme.

Chris Skidmore: The department is currently reviewing the specification of equipment provided to visually impaired students, to ensure that it remains fit for purpose throughout the duration of students’ courses. Students that experience issues with their equipment are advised to contact their assessment centre or Student Finance England so that these issues can be considered and rectified.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of 16 and 17 year old children awaiting an in need assessment in 2017-18.

Nadhim Zahawi: There were 2,960 children in need episodes as of 31 March 2018, where 16 year old and 17 year old children were awaiting an assessment.Information on the number of all children in need episodes as of 31 March, where children were awaiting an assessment, is included in the statistical publication ‘Characteristics of children in need 2017 to 2018’, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2017-to-2018.

Care Leavers and Children in Care: EU Nationals

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance his Department is providing to (a) children in care and (b) care leavers who are non-UK EU citizens to regularise their status in the UK through the EU settlement scheme.

Nadhim Zahawi: The EU Settlement Scheme is the responsibility of the Home Office, however the Department for Education has been working closely with them on the design and operation of the EU Settlement Scheme, including work in 5 local authorities to test the application process before it was rolled out nationally. The testing was useful in identifying changes needed to reflect the issues faced by this vulnerable group of children and young people. This included issues associated with a lack of relevant identity documents, which have subsequently been addressed by the Home Office. The Department for Education has worked with the Home Office to ensure that information has been shared widely with local authorities and with other interested organisations to ensure that action is taken with respect to all eligible children and young people. This has included the production and distribution of specific guidance for local authorities to assist them with their responsibilities to support children in care and care leavers. The department remains committed to working closely with the Home Office to monitor uptake of the EU Settlement Scheme and to ensure that the needs of looked-after children and care leavers are considered as a priority.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Health

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice of 5 September 2017, Official Report, Column 19, whether protocols his Department were developing with the Department of Health in 2017 on mental health and prisoner access to healthcare have been implemented; and what those protocols are.

Edward Argar: MoJ is committed to working in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England (NHSE), Public Health England (PHE) and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to deliver safe, decent, effective healthcare for offenders. Over 4,000 new prison staff are now in post, enabling us to implement initiatives like the key worker role, which allows staff to dedicate time to support individual prisoners. These initiatives and others mean that we will be able to better support individuals with mental health needs in prison. We have also agreed a Community Sentence Treatment Requirement (CSTR) protocol to support the greater use of community sentences with treatment requirements, including Mental Health Treatment Requirements helping to improve access to treatment for offenders who need it and divert vulnerable offenders away from custody where appropriate. The protocol is currently being piloted at five sites and last month we announced the extension of the programme to include Greater Manchester and London. The context of how health and justice partners work together to improve mental health provision, and indeed other health issues that that might impact on an individual’s ability to engage with rehabilitation, in both custody and the community, will be set out further in the joint MoJ/ DHSC Health and Justice Plan, which was announced on 20th June.

Personal Injury: Compensation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Litigant in Person portal will be expanded to include minor personal injury claims by April 2020.

Paul Maynard: The Government is working closely with a broad group of expert stakeholders to develop the new accessible IT Service. This will support and enable both represented and unrepresented claimants to progress all Road Traffic Accident related personal injury claims where the value of the personal injury claims is under the new small claims track limit of £5,000.

Legal Representation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have held with representatives of claimant bodies on the operation of the Litigant in Person portal in the last three months.

Paul Maynard: The Secretary of State has not met with any representatives of claimant groups in the last three months. However, officials have met with representatives of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers on four occasions between April and June 2019 to discuss the whiplash reform programme generally, including aspects of the new IT Service.

Personal Injury: Compensation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish his Department's response to Part 2 of the consultation paper, Reforming the Soft Tissue Injury (whiplash) Claims Process.

Paul Maynard: The Government is considering the issues raised in Part 2 of the consultation paper Reforming the Soft Tissue Injury (whiplash) Claims Process and intends to publish its response by the end of this year.

Legal Representation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that customers' experience of the litigant in person portal can be (a) monitored and (b) evaluated.

Paul Maynard: The Government is working closely with its key delivery partner (the Motor Insurers’ Bureau) and a broad group of expert stakeholders from across the personal injury sector to develop a new accessible IT Service. This will enable both represented and unrepresented claimants to progress Road Traffic Accident related personal injury claims under £5,000.Public testing of the IT Service is planned to begin in November 2019 and, in light of user’s experience, the Government will consider making some further modifications to the service before it goes live in April 2020, so that it is easy to understand and navigate.In addition, the service will provide a significant amount of management information. The Government is committed to reviewing this management information and how the new service is operating to identify any required changes and improvements approximately eighteen months from implementation. This will include a full evaluation of all relevant data relating to the overall customer experience of claimants using the service.

Legal Representation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that insurance companies do not submit incorrect Not Admitted responses through the Litigant in Person portal.

Paul Maynard: The Government wants to ensure that all claimants progress their claim efficiently and that claims for compensation are not unnecessarily delayed. As part of the new process, the Government is working in partnership with expert stakeholders to develop a bespoke alternative dispute resolution scheme to support unrepresented claimants and enable them to gain, at no cost to themselves, an independent view on the liability decision made by the defendant insurer. The new IT Service will also be publishing regular management data on how claims are handled by defendant insurers, including on how many times insurers are denying liability.

Legal Representation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Litigant in Person portal will include the ability for the litigant to present all losses in relation to an accident.

Paul Maynard: The Government is working closely with a broad group of expert stakeholders to develop a new accessible IT Service. This will support and enable both represented and unrepresented claimants to progress Road Traffic Accident related personal injury claims under the new small claims track limit of £5,000. The new service will enable claimants who can demonstrate a loss, to claim for special damages and vehicle related damages they have paid for themselves, as long as the total value of the claim does not exceed the upper limit of the small claims track.

Legal Representation: Children and Vulnerable Adults

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Litigant in Person portal will provide adequate protection to (a) minors and (b) vulnerable people.

Paul Maynard: The Government confirmed on 3 July 2019 to the Justice Select Committee that it will exempt, for the time being, children and protected parties from the increase in the small claims track limit to £5,000 for road traffic accident related personal injury claims. This will mean that children and protected parties will not be required to use the new IT Service and the Pre-Action Protocol. The Government believes this is a pragmatic way forward which will enable further testing of the new processes before considering further whether they are extended to this group of claimants.

Legal Representation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department plans to take to support a Litigant in Person to manage a claim through the portal if the litigant does not have access to the internet.

Paul Maynard: The Government recognises that there may be some claimants who will be unable or unwilling to access the new IT Service. As a result, the new platform is being designed to include specific support from a bespoke contact centre service to support those claimants who do not have access to, or cannot use, the digital service.

Legal Representation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse is of the (a) design, (b) construction and (c) annual operation of the Litigant in Person portal.

Paul Maynard: The Government is working in partnership with its key delivery partner, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, in designing and developing a new IT Service to enable injured claimants to progress their own Road Traffic Accident related personal injury claims under the new £5,000 small claims track limit.The costs associated with this new service will be funded by the insurance industry. As such, there are no costs to the public purse arising from the design, build and annual operation of the new service.

Coroners

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inquests have been undertaken following a person taking their own life while in the care of (a) the NHS and (b) private mental health facilities in each of the last 10 years; how many of those inquests resulted in a change of leadership at the facility in question; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice collects and publishes annual data on coroners’ inquest conclusions including the number of suicide conclusions but it does not collect data about the location of suicides or any follow up action. The annual coroner statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coroners-and-burials-statistics

Judges: Working Hours

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the working hours of judges in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: Data on the working hours of judges is not routinely collected. Judges are not contracted to work set hours. Their terms and conditions of service stipulate that they will sit a set number of days each financial year. This varies slightly between the different levels of the judiciary.

Legal Representation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the cost to the public purse of an increase in the level of self-representation in courts.

Paul Maynard: In February 2019, the Ministry of Justice published an extensive, evidence based post-implementation review (PIR) of Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012, which included an objective assessment of the impact of reforms. Litigants in person do require support to help them navigate the justice system, however it is not accepted that the justice system cannot function with the increased presence of litigants in person, and access to a lawyer is not always the correct or most affordable answer. Since 2014-15 the MoJ has invested close to £8m to support litigants in person in the civil and family courts through the Litigants in Person Support Strategy. We have committed to increase this support to £3m over the next two years, focusing on broadening the evidence base on how services delivered to litigants in person can be made even more effective. Through the HMCTS reform programme, the Government is also investing over £1bn to build a modern system for administering justice which will benefit everyone who uses it. By designing systems around the public who need and use our services, we can create a more effective system for them and generate efficiencies for the taxpayer.

Youth Custody: Restraint Techniques

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the level of the use of restraint on children in custody.

Edward Argar: The safety and welfare of children in custody is our highest priority. Restraint is only ever used as a last resort, where there is a risk of harm and no other form of intervention is possible or appropriate. However, we recognise that there are still high levels of restraint. In 2017, we began to implement a comprehensive reform programme with the aim of improving levels of safety in the youth custodial estate. The programme is underpinned a new evidence-based positive behaviour strategy and significant reform of the workforce. We are also taking specific actions to reduce the number of incidents of restraint, including:introducing the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint framework in all secure training centres (STCs) and under-18 young offender institutions (YOIs). This has been specifically developed to avoid physical restraint as far as possible by using a range of de-escalation, diversion and behaviour management techniques;requiring each public STC and YOI to implement a “Restraint Minimisation Strategy”;reviewing data on use of force to improve recording and reporting and to improve practice; andundertaking a safeguarding review across the youth secure estate.In addition, we have recently responded positively to the recommendations on restraint made by the Joint Committee for Human Rights.

Legal Aid Scheme

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on children of the removal of parts of education law from the scope of legal aid under Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Paul Maynard: The Ministry of Justice recently published an extensive, evidence based review of the changes made by Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, which included an assessment of the impact of the removal of parts of education law from the scope of legal aid. Following this, the department announced several changes as part of the Legal Support Action Plan to improve access to legal support, including reinstating immediate access to face-to-face advice for special educational needs and discrimination cases by Spring 2020.

Youth Custody: Special Educational Needs

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of children in custody have special education needs.

Edward Argar: Information on children in custody with special educational needs is collected on entry into custody by Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) and submitted to the Youth Custody Service (YCS) to inform placement decisions. Comprehensive screening and assessment is conducted for all Children and Young People across the youth justice system, allowing for early identification of needs and requirements to support their care. An initial assessment is made before the first night in custody to assess any immediate needs or requirements, this is then followed by further physical and mental health assessments. Of those children entering custody during 2018/19, 30% were assessed as having special educational needs or disabilities. The data presented should be considered as an indication of the needs and risks of young people as they enter the secure estate, rather than formal clinical assessment. Further assessment of the educational needs of all children continues on induction using a screening tool, and throughout their time in custody.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for employment tribunal fee refunds have been refused by reason for refusal.

Paul Maynard: HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has not rejected any valid claims for refunds. In order to assess validity, HMCTS checks whether another party has claimed, whether the claimant has already been paid and whether the claimant is entitled to a refund. In these circumstances HMCTS would invite the claimant to submit a fresh claim which addresses concerns identified rather than reject outright. We do not hold statistics on the number of claims dealt with in this way and the information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Northumberland Prison: Mental Health Services

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Independent Monitoring Board annual report on HMP Northumberland, what the timeframe for prisoners accessing inpatient psychiatric treatment will be; and what improvements that prison is working towards.

Edward Argar: People who are sentenced by a court to imprisonment after conviction may be assessed by a psychiatrist in prison if it is thought that their mental disorder is of a nature or degree that requires treatment in hospital. Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983 is considered when transferring prisoners. Proposed changes are being made to the way in which inpatient secure beds are commissioned with the aim of improving timely allocation. Time scales are monitored by NHS England and include an expectation of 14-day prison transfers. The transfer time starts on completion of the first medical assessment and stops once the prisoner has been admitted to hospital. HMP Northumberland has a professional and supportive Mental Health team engaged in supporting men with both mental health and complex needs. The Mental Health team, delivered by Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust are actively engaged with men who are subject to Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) procedures and those who reside within the Separation and Care (SCU), as well as other men across the site, with a variety of needs. Through The Gate (TTG) services have created an opportunity for early identification of individuals who may have complex mental health needs and gives a framework for cooperation and joined up working, as well as release planning. A new complex Case Manager has been appointed by G4S (Healthcare provider) with whom the mental health team at HMP Northumberland will work closely with to co-ordinate needs, and ensure the support for individuals is comprehensive.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of whether the HM Courts and Tribunals service has the capacity to reduce the waiting time for an appeal for personal independence payments.

Paul Maynard: HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HCMTS) is taking positive steps to reduce the waiting time for appeals to be heard in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 100 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS is developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Case-management “triage” sessions are also being conducted, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that need to progress to an oral hearing.

Small Claims

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of the planned small claims portal for people without internet access.

Paul Maynard: The Government recognises that there may be some claimants, who will be unable or unwilling to access the new IT Service. As a result, the new platform is being designed to include specific support from a bespoke contact centre service to support those claimants who do not have access to, or cannot use, the digital service.

Small Claims: Children and Vulnerable Adults

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what protections will be in place in the planned small claims portal to ensure that the rights of minors and vulnerable people are safeguarded.

Paul Maynard: The Government confirmed on 3 July 2019 to the Justice Select Committee that it will exempt, for the time being, children and protected parties from the increase in the small claims track limit to £5,000 for road traffic accident related personal injury claims. This will mean that children and protected parties will not be required to use the new IT Service and the Pre-Action Protocol. The Government believes this is a pragmatic way forward which will enable further testing of the new processes before considering further whether they are extended to this group of claimants.

Legal Representation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse to date and; the full cost of introduction of the Litigant in Person portal.

Paul Maynard: The Government is working in partnership with its key delivery partner, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, in designing and developing a new IT Service to enable injured claimants to progress their own Road Traffic Accident related personal injury claims under the new £5,000 small claims track limit.The costs associated with this new service will be funded by the insurance industry. As such, there are no costs to the public purse arising from the design, build and annual operation of the new service.

Legal Representation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timeframe is for the testing period of the Litigant in Person portal.

Paul Maynard: The Government is working closely with its key delivery partner (the Motor Insurers’ Bureau) and a broad group of expert stakeholders from across the personal injury sector to develop a new accessible IT Service. This will enable both represented and unrepresented claimants to progress Road Traffic Accident related personal injury claims under £5,000.Public testing of the IT Service is planned to begin in November 2019 and, in light of user’s experience, the Government will consider making some further modifications to the service before it goes live in April 2020, so that it is easy to understand and navigate.In addition, the service will provide a significant amount of management information. The Government is committed to reviewing this management information and how the new service is operating to identify any required changes and improvements approximately eighteen months from implementation. This will include a full evaluation of all relevant data relating to the overall customer experience of claimants using the service.

Fines: Surcharges

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, purusuant to the Answer of to Question 252552, where the difference between the Victims Surcharge collected and the Victims Surcharge contribution to the Victim and Witness Budget is allocated.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2019 to Question 252552, for what reasons the Government is not contributing the full amount raised from the victims surcharge to the victim and witness budget.

Edward Argar: The Victim and Witness Budget, which is used to fund support service for victims and witnesses, is set each year and includes funding from a number of different sources. This includes a forecasted contribution from the revenue raised by the Victim Surcharge. The Victim and Witness Budget for funding victim support services increased to £96m in 2018/19 and has near-doubled funding for victim support services since 2013. Between 2015/16 and 2017/18 the revenue raised from the Surcharge surpassed the forecasted contribution, so the excess was put towards compensating victims of violent crime through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. However, we have now changed our procedures so that from this financial year, all revenue raised will be included in the Surcharge contribution to Victim and Witness Budget.

Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for how many inquests was legal aid provided in each year since 2012.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value of legal aid granted to inquests in each year since 2010 is.

Paul Maynard: This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Coroners: Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the proportion of inquests for which legal aid was provided in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: This information would only be available at disproportionate cost. Legal aid funding is provided when the requisite eligibility criteria are met. Following consideration of claims for payment from the lawyers involved, all payments are made from a central legal aid budget, which is not demarcated according to any particular category of law.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Staff

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2019 to Question 269807 on HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Staff, if he will publish the information for March 2019.

Edward Argar: The number of agency staff in HMCTS was 2,623 as of March 2019, which was 14.15%. The earliest held comparable data is from 2016 and shows 1,569, which was 8.5% of the staffing numbers. This is an increase of 1,054 over this period (or 5.65% of total staffing numbers). However, this is a 0.45 percentage point decrease from the previous year (March 2018). The following tables show a breakdown by grade as requested.Mar-16Employee typeAgencyAgency proportionSCS00.0%Band A00.0%Band B00.0%Band C70.9%Band D190.7%Band E124712.2%Band F29610.5%Total1,5698.5%  Mar-18Employee typeAgencyAgency proportionSCS00.0%Band A00.0%Band B20.1%Band C70.8%Band D321.2%Band E238022.1%Band F31612.8%Total2,73714.6%  Mar-19Employee typeAgencyAgency proportionSCS00.00%Band A00.00%Band B20.13%Band C60.60%Band D180.70%Band E235822.34%Band F23910.63%Total2,62314.15% We were unable to provide data from 2010 as HMCTS did not exist in its current form until 2011. Prior to this there were multiple business units that held their own people data. We are unable to obtain agency data from HR systems prior to 2016. As with any large data system, there are also likely to be some inaccuracies. Over the period of Reform, we expect the shape and size of the organisation to change. As part of this we are reducing our staffing levels and expect the future skills of our people to change. The HMCTS workforce strategy during this period is to increase the capability of our staff, whilst simultaneously increasing our workforce flexibility through the increased usage of contingent labour. This is in order to reduce redundancy costs and protect the jobs of longer serving, permanent staff. The required staffing level needed across each of our HMCTS sites is monitored closely, and proactive recruitment undertaken to ensure these levels are maintained.

Employment Tribunals Service

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken was to complete a single employment tribunal claim by employment tribunal office in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) can only provide data for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2019. Data below the level of published statistics are not available prior to 1 April 2014 due to a data reconciliation exercise.The average time taken (in weeks) to complete a single employment tribunal claim by the employment tribunal in each office since 2014 is outlined in the table below.Employment Tribunal Office2014/152015/162016/172017/182018/19Aberdeen3924243129Birmingham2825212429Bristol4833292325Cardiff2925253133Dundee5643252523Edinburgh15633342725Glasgow3740302929Leeds4726232221London Central3329282733London South3531323542Manchester5133282431Newcastle2822211723Nottingham3427262932Stratford4234343031Watford2727293237 HMCTS has been working with the tribunal’s judiciary to appoint additional judges to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal. 58 (or 51.5 full time equivalent) salaried employment judges took up positions from April 2019.

Employment Tribunals Service

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of outstanding employment tribunal cases was by employment tribunal office in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: HM Courts & Tribunals Service can only provide data for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2019. The number of outstanding employment tribunal cases is a snapshot of data taken at a specific point in time and cannot be re-run retrospectively. While data at a national level can be found in the published statistics retrospective reporting at office level in line with the published statistics are not available prior to 2013.The number of outstanding employment tribunal cases by employment tribunal office since 2013 are outlined in the table below.ALL CASES1,2OFFICEAs at 31 March 2013As at 31 March 2014As at 31 March 2015As at 31 March 2016As at 31 March 2017As at 31 March 2018As at 31 March 2019Birmingham44910489963979238727376823915738900Nottingham4399567846634404398147424660Leeds1330214090102606679310153326830Manchester23293170701711715650173143964248507Newcastle29331249451759411495755651894895Aberdeen2954311229583396304628902524Dundee6749609863676626469739473430Edinburgh6063227333022993305529052599Glasgow63651565616681464128561765823675053London Central12448135391372022369301523675839036London South349709259614131264872594076009546East London4666338629653364355131403864Watford3485319137632892274175108293144008Bristol19273453501814396144521491115199Wales145171099168604278359335933725HMCTS has been working with the tribunal's judiciary to support additional judges to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal. 58 (or 51.5 full time equivalents) salaried employment judges took up positions from April 2019.1 Single claims are made by a sole employee/worker, relating to alleged breaches of employment rights.2 Multiple claims are where two or more people bring proceedings arising out of the same facts, usually against a common employer.All data were taken from the employment tribunal’s central database and as such is management information that is provisional and subject to change.Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, and are the best data available at the time of publication.

Courts

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time was between first court appearance and trial in (a) magistrates courts and (b) Crown courts in each of the last five years.

Paul Maynard: The information requested can be found in Table 1 and 2 below. Table 1 - Average number of days first listing to trial start date, for magistrates’ trial cases in England and Wales, excluding those committed to the Crown Court, 2014 to 2018. YearNumber of defendants with completed casesFirst listing to trial start date (number of days)MeanMedian2014187,38363592015196,19968612016179,04258532017171,86254492018173,4865346 Notes(1) Trial is identified here based on whether there is a valid “trial start date” entered into the magistrates’ court administrative system (Libra). It is possible that trial cases without valid start dates have been removed from the analysis. (2) Includes cases with an offence to completion time greater than 10 years but excludes a small number of cases with identified data quality issues and breaches. (3) Statistics are sourced from linked magistrates’ courts and Crown Court administrative data systems - with a match rate of around 95%.(4) Only one offence is counted for each defendant in the case. If there is more than one offence per defendant that complete on the same day, a set of validation rules applies to select one offence only and to the longest duration, seriousness and the lowest sequence number of the offence. (5) Includes cases completed in the magistrates’ courts during the specified time period, where no further action is required by the magistrates’ court. (6) Excludes cases that are committed to the Crown Court. (7) From Q2 2015, the figures include Single Justice Procedure cases that were committed within magistrates’ courts in England and Wales, introduced in June 2015. (8) Timeliness tables include TFL ATCM (automated track case management) cases which started in April 2017.  Table 2 - Average number of days first listing to main hearing, for completed Crown Court trial cases in England and Wales, 2014 to 2018. YearNumber of defendants with completed casesFirst listing to trial start date (number of days)MeanMedian201476,531138112201576,819157121201669,563155123201764,591147124201856,738147127 Notes(1) Trial is identified based on the “case type” variable (e.g. case_type =T), this is recorded at the point of receipt into the Crown Court and it is possible that not all cases went on to trial.(2) Includes cases with an offence to completion time greater than 10 years but excludes a small number of cases with identified data quality issues and breaches. (3) Includes all criminal cases which have received a verdict and concluded in the specified time period in the Crown Court. (4) Statistics are sources from linked magistrates’ courts and Crown Court administrative data systems - with a match rate of around 95%.(5) Only one offence is counted for each defendant in the case. If there is more than one offence per defendant that complete on the same day, a set of validation rules applies to select one offence only and these relate to the longest duration, seriousness and the lowest sequence number of the offence.(6) Around 95% of defendants have a main hearing date.(7) A median value of 0 indicates that the case had a first listing and was completed on the same day. (8) Committal proceedings were abolished nationally on 28 May 2013. Triable either-way cases are now sent rather than committed.  Performance, demand and waiting times in the courts are constantly reviewed to balance sitting days with waiting times, disposals and receipts. Resources are adjusted when required. Demand has been falling in recent years and sitting days have been reduced accordingly to ensure the backlog of work remains relatively stable. Waiting times for trials in the Crown Court for 2018 have been the lowest since 2014, despite the challenge of increasingly complex cases. We will continue to review demand and performance in the Crown Court and magistrates’ court and will ensure they have the resources they require

Courts: Attendance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases involving defendants in criminal courts commenced with a postal requisition by the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last 5 years.

Paul Maynard: The information sought, broken down to cases commenced with a postal requisition by the Crown Prosecution Service, could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Judges: Crown Courts

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of judges available to conduct criminal cases in crown courts.

Paul Maynard: Last year Crown Court trial waiting times were at their lowest since 2014, with this year’s allocation of sitting days reflecting this. We estimate that we need around 82,300 sitting days in the Crown Court in England and Wales in the financial year 2019/20 and have the judges needed to deliver this level of sitting. This estimate is based on how much resource is required to deal with the number of cases expected to be received in 2019/20 and reflects falling demand in the Crown Court. We will continue to review demand and performance in the Crown Court and will ensure it has the resources it requires.

Magistrates' Courts: Camberwell and Peckham

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has sold Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court building.

Paul Maynard: HM Courts & Tribunals Service has exchanged contracts on the sale of Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court. The sale will only be completed following the closure of the court and once vacant possession has been confirmed. The decision to close Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court was not taken lightly and followed a public consultation that concluded the local community will have reasonable access to alternative courts. All money raised from the sale of the surplus property will be reinvested in the reform of HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

Department for International Trade

Environment Protection: Investment

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage green investment in the UK to ensure that the UK reaches Net Zero by 2050.

Graham Stuart: DIT’s global network is dedicated to promoting green investment in the UK, such as in renewable energy, and broader low carbon growth. For example, the UK has the biggest offshore wind capacity in the world, with full participation of global investors, developers, and a growing UK supply chain. The Industrial Strategy Offshore Wind Sector Deal builds on the UK’s global leadership position in offshore wind and seeks to maximise the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth. The Sector Deal sets out a strategy to deliver 30GW of Offshore Wind energy by 2030, and supply chain investment of £250M. The Government published its Green Finance Strategy on 2 July setting out the steps it is taking to catalyse green investment in the UK and abroad.

Eggs: Import Duties

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will reassess the potential merits of adding imports of eggs and egg products to the tariffs list.

George Hollingbery: It remains the Government’s priority to leave the EU with an agreement. If the UK leaves the EU with an agreement, the UK will enter the implementation period during which eggs and eggs products from the EU will be still subject to tariff-free access. If the UK leaves the EU without an agreement, the UK would implement a temporary tariff regime, which was announced on March 13th 2019. The temporary tariff is a balanced tariff policy which aims to minimise costs to business and mitigate price impacts on consumers, while also supporting UK producers as far as possible. Government will continue to listen to stakeholder feedback regarding the temporary tariff, and have committed to holding a public consultation on the UK’s permanent MFN tariff policy. We welcome feedback from the egg sector to help us shape the permanent MFN policy.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what preparations his Department is making for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement; and how much funding has been allocated to those preparations.

Jake Berry: We remain focused on ensuring our smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible. Parliament has rejected leaving without a deal multiple times, although this remains the legal default at the end of the extension period. In light of the agreed extension, we will make sensible decisions about the timing and pace at which some of this work is progressing, but we continue to prepare for all Brexit scenarios. Ministers continue to review these preparations to ensure the UK is prepared for all Brexit scenarios.   As a responsible Government, we've been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal for nearly three years. We are putting in place a range of mitigations, these include ensuring we have comprehensive contingency plans to enable us to support local authorities, communities and local economies in a no deal scenario; a programme of work to understand and manage the implications on our housing delivery objectives; and managing our exit from existing European funding programmes, progressing work on the replacement UK-Shared Prosperity Fund.   The Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as £412 million over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Autumn Statement 2016); £286 million of additional funding for 2017/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 2017/18); over £1.5 billion for 2018/19 (Supplementary Estimates 2018/19); and over £2 billion for 2019/20 (Main Estimates 2019/20).   This funding is to cover all exit scenarios and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK's departure from the EU. Work on no-deal exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other EU exit work, given the significant overlap in plans in many cases.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June to Question 263698, whether Big Ideas is contractually required to ensure the impartiality of its public engagement work on the proposed use of Victoria Tower Gardens for the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Big Ideas Community Interest Company is contracted via a standard MHCLG grant funding agreement and have always acted in an open and transparent way when it comes to their public engagement work on the proposed Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens.

Homelessness: Young People

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of homeless people under the age of 25.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. That is why we introduced the Homelessness Reduction Act, the most ambitious reform to homelessness legislation in decades, on 3 of April 2018. The Act included changes to ensure that there is better support for young people, families and care leavers by ensuring that there are more opportunities to prevent or relieve homelessness.In addition to this, we published a cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy in August 2018, which set out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now and put in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. As part of the Strategy, my Department committed to developing the Young Future’s Fund - a social impact bond programme aimed at supporting vulnerable young people who are homeless or sleeping rough. This will build on the success of the Fair Chance Fund (2015-2017), which supported over 1,900 homeless young people to improve their accommodation, employment and education outcomes.We have also put in place bespoke support for local authorities through our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, the team includes dedicated youth homelessness adviser roles which have a commitment to work with local authorities to proactively promote positive joint working across housing authorities and offering training, advice and support to all local authorities.The Government is committed to building upon this work and to continue to bring down the number of young people without a home. The Government is committed to building on recent success of bringing down the number of homelessness acceptances for 16-17 year-olds.

Homelessness

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce homelessness.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we have made a manifesto commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it altogether by 2027, placing a priority on preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place.Last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.Ahead of the Rough Sleeping Strategy we announced a new Rough Sleeping Initiative in order to have an immediate impact on reducing the levels of rough sleeping.The measures within the initiative include:a cross-government, multi-disciplinary new Rough Sleeping Team;a £30 million fund for 2018-19 for local authorities with high number of people sleeping rough;a further £45 million fund for 2019-20 to help tackle rough sleeping.In its first year, our Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) provided over 1,750 new bed spaces and 500 staff. This year we have expanded the RSI with investment of £46 million for 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 2,600 bed spaces and 750 staff.In April 2018 the Homelessness Reduction Act, the most ambitious legislative reform on this issue in decades, came into force. The Act transforms the culture of homelessness service delivery. It placed new duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter from his Department cited in the 3 July 2019 InsideHousing article entitled, Check cladding on buildings under 18m - government tells building control, whether his Department is directing building control to check the safety of cladding on all buildings including those already constructed.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter from his Department cited in the 3 July 2019 InsideHousing article entitled Check cladding on buildings under 18m - government tells building control, if his Department will provide local authorities with additional resources to check the safety of cladding within their geographical area.

Kit Malthouse: On 1 July my Department issued a circular letter to remind building control bodies of considerations relating to assessing compliance with requirement B4 of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 with regard to fire spread over the external walls of a building and, in particular, the application of that requirement to low-rise buildings. The letter relates to building work controlled by the building regulations and imposes no new duties on local authorities. The Circular letter is available on the Department's website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-letter-regarding-the-application-of-requirement-b4-of-the-building-regulations-2010.For buildings already constructed we have also published a series of Advice Notes for building owners in regard to fire safety at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-building-safety-programme#advice-notes.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Finance

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding allocated to her Department.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK has committed to spending 2% of GDP on defence. We are the largest defence spender in Europe and the second largest in NATO.The Ministry of Defence has a £39 billion core defence budget which will rise by at least 0.5% above inflation in every year of this Parliament. Any future funding decisions will be taken at the upcoming spending review.

Armed Forces: Career Development

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of social class on promotion in the armed forces.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has made no recent assessment of the effect of social class on promotion in the Armed Forces.Armed Forces careers are built on merit, creating an environment where success is determined by potential, effort and talent and not by background. The skills, education and training an Armed Forces career provides allows people the opportunity to progress and prosper not just while they serve, but also once they transition back into civilian life.With over 50,000 apprenticeships during this Parliament, the Ministry of Defence are the UK's largest apprenticeship provider. In addition, we commission our most talented soldiers, sailors and aircraftmen and women, provide university bursary programmes and we recently announced the STEM Graduate Inflow Scheme which will improve access to our technical graduate programme.

Navy: Military Bases

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many visits there have been to UK naval bases by foreign vessels carrying nuclear weapons in each of the last ten years; which bases those vessels visited; and what nations those vessels originated from.

Penny Mordaunt: It is UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons onboard specific ships or submarines at any particular place or time, for the purposes of safeguarding national security and international relations.

Air Force: Heart Diseases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant the Answer of 4 July 2019 to Question 271441 on Armed Forces: Heart Diseases, for what reason RAF recruits do not receive an electrocardiogram test; and whether such a test is a requirement for a recruit to gain a pilot's licence.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: RAF screening is designed to detect significant cardiovascular abnormalities prior to service. While RAF recruits do not routinely receive an electrocardiogram (ECG), where screening indicates they may have a problem an ECG, exercise ECG, 24-hour ECG or echocardiogram might be performed.For aircrew candidates, an ECG is required before entering pilot training.

Armed Forces: Heart Diseases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2019 to Question 271441 on Armed Forces: Heart Diseases, whether she has plans to change the criteria clinicians follow when seeking to detect significant structural and electrophysiological abnormalities in recruits.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The medical standards for the Armed Forces are kept under periodic review to ensure they take account of UK best practice in occupational medical policy, medical evidence, improved diagnostic procedures and treatments.There are currently no plans to change the criteria for detecting these abnormalities.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who decided not to pursue an appeal for personal independence payments due to the length of the waiting time for an appeal.

Justin Tomlinson: There is no administrative data held that could determine the reasons why an individual, if dissatisfied with the decision received after their MR is completed, might not choose to pursue an appeal with HMCTS. There is already some data in the public domain that may be of interest. The Personal Independent Payment (PIP) Official Statistics holds information on the volumes of Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) registered (Table 7A) and cleared (Table 7B), and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-april-2019 The Ministry of Justice Tribunal Statistics Quarterly publication contains the number of PIP cases for which an appeal is lodged with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) (Table SSCS1), and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2019 HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HCMTS) is taking positive steps to reduce the waiting time for appeals to be heard in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from 100 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, HMCTS is developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Case-management “triage” sessions are also being conducted, with the aim of reducing the number of cases that need to progress to an oral hearing.

Employment: Arthritis

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to improve support in the workplace for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Justin Tomlinson: We are committed to improving employment outcomes for disabled people and people with health conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. We have seen almost 950,000 more disabled people in work over the five years to the first quarter of 2019. Access to Work offers disabled workers practical advice and a discretionary grant of up to £59,200 per year for in-work support. Access to Work does not record arthritis as a primary medical condition category, as the scheme uses the same categories as the Labour Force Survey. However, last year Access to Work paid over £13 million to individuals who listed ‘arms or hands, 'legs or feet' and 'back or neck' as their primary medical conditions, and many of these will be people living with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. That represents over 10% of the total Access to Work spend and a 2% increase, in real terms, on the previous year. In addition, DWP is engaging with employers through the Disability Confident scheme - supporting them to feel more confident about both employing disabled people, including people with arthritis, and supporting disabled employees to realise their potential. Over 12,000 employers have signed up to the scheme so far. Looking forward, DWP is working in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care to publish a consultation on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions like arthritis, to stay and thrive in work. The proposals included in the consultation not only seek to benefit disabled people, but all employees who experience or are at risk of a long term sickness absence.

Employment and Support Allowance

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the 29 April 2019 Health Select Committee news item, Committee publishes doctors’ views on Fit Notes and ESA appeals, what estimate her Department has made of the number of claimants who challenged their work capability assessment decisions but were refused employment support allowance while their appeal was pending due to her Department sending ambiguous ESA65B letters to claimants’ GPs.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available. We have revised the ESA65B letter, which went live from 3rd June 2019. The letter gives clear clinical discretion to GPs to continue issuing fit notes in appropriate circumstances, such as when an appeal against a Department for Work and Pensions decision is being undertaken, where a claimant’s condition has worsened or if the claimant has developed a new health condition or disability.

Buildings: Asbestos

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's policy is on mandatory asbestos testing in public sector buildings.

Justin Tomlinson: Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulation 2012 requires duty holders (normally the owner or person responsible for maintenance of the building) in all public sector buildings to identify and record the presence and condition of asbestos-containing materials. In practice, this will require a survey of the building and, if necessary, the testing of any material suspected of containing asbestos.

Courts: Safety

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many court buildings were referred to the Health and Safety Executive because of (a) the presence of asbestos and (b) other concerns in each year since 2010.

Justin Tomlinson: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) receives circa 26,000 health and safety concerns a year. HSE does not receive this information in a format which enables customisable searching (e.g. type of business, premises, or subject matter), as most of the data is provided in a free-text format to make it as easy as possible for members of the public, and employees to report health and safety matters. HSE’s Corporate Intelligence System holds data about our interactions with employers and details about any enforcement action taken. We have identified 21 health and safety concerns about UK Courts  YearAsbestosOther concerns  2012/1312 2013/1403 2014/1505 2015/1605 2016/1702 2017/1801 2018/1902Total 120

Television: Licensing

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of free television licences issued to residents in (a) Peterborough City Council and (b) Peterborough constituency in each of the last three years; and what the total annual value was of those licences.

Guy Opperman: In the 2015 funding settlement, the Government agreed with the BBC that responsibility for the concession will transfer to the BBC in June 2020. The Government and the BBC agreed this is a fair deal for the BBC - in return we closed the iPlayer loophole and committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation. And to help with financial planning, we agreed to provide phased transitional funding over 2 years to gradually introduce the cost to the BBC. This reform was subject to public discussion and debated extensively during the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017 through Parliament. On 10 June 2019, the BBC announced that the current scheme will end. From 1 June 2020, a free TV licence will only be available to a household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit. The table below provides estimates of the costs for providing free TV licences to people aged 75 years and over in the geographical areas requested, in nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.  Caseloads (thousands) 2015-162016-172017-18(a) Peterborough Local Authority11.011.311.2(a) Peterborough constituency7.17.37.2   Expenditure (£m) (Nominal) 2015-162016-172017-18(a) Peterborough Local Authority£1.56£1.57£1.62(a) Peterborough constituency£1.01£1.02£1.03

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Housing: Construction

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the effect of house building on (a) air and (b) soil pollution.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is responsible for the Government’s planning policies for England and how these should be applied. Defra works with MHCLG to ensure policies relating to air quality management are embedded in their National Planning Policy Framework. We are exploring options to address emissions from construction materials as announced in the Clean Air Strategy. Defra’s Construction Code of Practice for the Sustainable Use of Soil on Construction Sites is a practical guide to assist anyone involved in the construction industry to protect the soil resources with which they work. The Environment Agency have published a guide Land contamination: risk management that can be used in the in the planning regime to ensure existing land contamination is dealt with appropriately during the development process.

Barbecues

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to ban disposable barbecues.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effect on the environment of the use of disposable barbecues; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We have not made an assessment of the impact of disposable barbecues on the environment, nor do we have plans to ban them.The Government is working to raise awareness of the impacts of domestic burning and has produced guidance which also asks people to be considerate towards others when using barbecues. The guidance can be found here: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/cat09/1901291307_Ready_to_Burn_Web.pdf.

Plastics: Waste

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) support and (b) incentivise small food and catering businesses to reduce plastic waste.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy, published last December, sets out our approach to eliminating avoidable plastic waste. As part of this, we propose to introduce requirements for businesses in England, which would include small food and catering businesses, to present a core set of materials for recycling. We will ensure that smaller businesses are not disadvantaged by these new requirements and, through our consultation on this proposal which closed in May, have sought views on how to help these businesses reduce the costs of waste collection. The Government also consulted on reforming packaging waste regulations to financially incentivise packaging producers to reduce the use of unnecessary and difficult to recycle packaging, and to produce packaging that can be recycled. These reforms, along with our proposals on consistency of recycling collections, should ensure that more of the plastic used by small food and catering businesses can be and will be recycled.

Incinerators

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the volume of recyclable waste that has been sent to be incinerated in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not record this information and we do not have a basis to make such an estimate.

Plastics: Recycling

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) increase the amount of plastic that is recycled, and (b) improve the UK’s recycling infrastructure.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December last year, sets out how we will reduce plastic pollution and preserve material resources by minimising waste, increasing recycling rates, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a more circular economy. We have consulted on reforms to household and business recycling collections which are intended to improve the quantity and quality of materials collected for recycling, including plastic, and on proposals to make producers pay the full net cost for dealing with the packaging they put on the market at end-of-life, and on the potential introduction of a deposit return scheme. Her Majesty’s Treasury have also consulted on a world-leading tax on plastic packaging which does not contain at least 30% recycled material. These reforms should help reduce waste and increase the amount of packaging recycled. Defra also supports the UK Plastics Pact, a unique collaboration launched by Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) that will create a circular economy for plastics. WRAP estimates these members are responsible for over 80% of the plastic packaging on products sold through UK supermarkets, and approximately 50% of the total plastic packaging placed on the UK market. The Government is also acting to help ensure the right infrastructure is in place to deliver high quality secondary materials for recycling. It is investing around £3 billion of grant funding in waste infrastructure projects. These grants support infrastructure including material recovery, mechanical biological treatment and anaerobic digestion facilities, as well as implementation and expanding kerbside recycling services. It also recently announced £4.7 million of grant funding for recycling infrastructure projects that will help to recycle difficult plastic packaging and textile materials. Further grant opportunities around recycling will follow in due course.

Plastics

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support research on alternatives to plastics.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Our Resources and Waste Strategy, published in December last year, sets out approach to eliminating avoidable plastic waste. We recognise, however, that plastics will continue to play an important role, for example by helping to prevent food waste when used in food packaging for certain foods. One reason plastics are useful is that they are lightweight, which can have benefits in terms of the carbon emissions associated with getting them to market. So we want to better understand the environmental trade-offs associated with alternative materials. We set this out as an area of research in interest in the Resources and Waste Strategy, and we welcome collaborations with industry and academia in order to further explore it. We are also taking steps to ensure new, innovative types of plastic really are more sustainable. As part of this, the Government has confirmed, subject to matched funding from industry, that it is prepared to invest up to £60 million through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund towards the development of smart, sustainable plastic packaging, which will aim to make the UK a world-leader in sustainable packaging for consumer products. We will also publish a call for evidence on standards for bio-based and biodegradable plastics. The Government is concerned that, in the absence of accepted standards, claims about the biodegradability of plastic-based products cannot be verified, possibly leading to increased levels of consumption and greater environmental harm, in comparison to conventional fossil-based plastics. The call for evidence will be published later this year, and we welcome responses from the research community.

Plastics: Recycling

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the current plastic recycling system.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In England plastic is widely collected for recycling across local authorities. 45% of plastic packaging waste was recycled in 2017, exceeding the EU target of 22.5%. As part of our Resources and Waste Strategy, the Government analysed the challenges currently facing the recycling industry in this country. Through the Strategy, the Government set out how it would tackle these challenges, including making producers more responsible for the packaging they put on the market and making recycling simpler for households. We want all local waste authorities to collect the same core set of materials for recycling. We also want to introduce a deposit return system. This will increase the quantity and quality of recyclable material collected. Our approach, from production through consumption to end of life, is focused on increasing supply and demand for secondary materials to be recycled in the UK. Our ambition is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste over the lifetime of the 25 Year Environmental Plan. For the most problematic plastics we are going faster, which is why we have committed to working towards all plastic packaging placed on the UK market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

African Swine Fever

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to inform people entering the UK of the dangers of bringing in meat from areas affected by African swine fever.

David Rutley: Defra, together with the devolved administrations, pig industry and veterinary bodies, has been working on a communications campaign to raise awareness of the risks of the introduction of African swine fever (ASF) to the UK and what can be done to reduce the risk of entry into the UK pig herd or feral wild boar populations. Messaging has targeted key audiences including transport operators, tourists to specific regions, and other people returning from affected regions. Additionally, we have been speaking to both professional and backyard pig keepers about the dangers and risk of ASF, to encourage best practice and ensure disease prevention.We have also run a targeted communication campaign to raise awareness of the particular risks of bringing pork products into the UK from affected areas, including the emphasis on the importance of safely disposing of any unwanted pork products.

African Swine Fever

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional resource has been allocated to UK border force to (a) provide communications to the public on and (b) increase surveillance of imported meat products from areas affected by African swine fever.

David Rutley: Defra is working with Border Force to focus communications on passengers travelling through ports and airports when returning to the UK from the EU and Asia. We are in the process of developing a set of communications that will be distributed across UK ports and airports informing people of the disease risk and asking that they do not bring personal pork imports into the UK. These messages will be communicated through a combination of posters, leaflets, and social media. Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency routinely provide UK Border Force with information and risk assessments on countries where there is a heightened risk of animal diseases such as African swine fever. The information is used to target the specially trained sniffer dogs to detect illegally imported meat and high risk products of animal origin. Defra is currently working with UK Border Force to improve this intelligence sharing and targeting.

African Swine Fever

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an economic assessment of the potential effect of African Swine Fever being identified in the UK on (a) the public purse and (b) pig producers’ incomes.

David Rutley: The Government has estimated that the economic effect of a reasonable worst case scenario outbreak of African Swine Fever could cost the UK up to £90 million at 2019 prices. This total estimate includes costs to the industry of up to £85 million, which reflects the lost value of animals from culling, movement bans and trade restrictions, and costs of up to £5 million for the Government for disease control activities.While this estimate represents an informed assessment of the potential impact of an outbreak, exact costs would be determined by a large number of factors including geographic location, the husbandry system, epidemiology of the outbreak and whether wildlife was involved.

Meat: Imports

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government has plans to strengthen biosecurity arrangements on imported meat products after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: Our high biosecurity standards are of critical importance to the UK and we are committed to ensure those standards are maintained when we leave the UK. As a member of the European Union we share standards of biosecurity with other Member States. This has facilitated the free movement of these goods between member states. In the short term those standards will not change. Therefore, to ensure minimum disruption at the borders, we will not introduce new import controls on these goods imported from the EU. To ensure we remain vigilant, we will require advance notification of imports of high-risk food and feed from the EU. This includes products of animal origin and high-risk food and feed not of animal origin. The Food Standards Agency will be in a position to monitor those notifications so that in the event of a food incident occurring involving imported food or feed, it will be able to respond effectively to safeguard public health by swiftly identifying the point of entry to the UK and the spread of a problem. We will also be reviewing our imports regime once we leave the EU. For imports from countries outside the EU we will maintain the current controls and consignments of animal products will continue to be required to enter at Border Inspection Posts for veterinary checks. Notification will be required using the UK Import of Products, Animals and Food and Feed System. These controls will also apply to products of animal origin that come from outside the EU but travel through the EU before arriving in the UK.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what preparations his Department is making for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement; and how much funding has been allocated to those preparations.

David Rutley: The Government remains focused on ensuring our smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU, with a deal, as soon as possible. Leaving without a withdrawal agreement remains the legal default at the end of the extension period, and as a responsible Government we have been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal for over two years. In light of the agreed extension to the EU departure date, departments are making pragmatic decisions about the timing and pace at which some of this work is progressing. We continue to prepare for all exit scenarios. Defra has put in place a range of mitigations to minimise any disruption arising from leaving the EU without a deal. This has included creating six new IT systems, ensuring necessary legislation was passed, and setting up a Business Readiness Directorate to support increased levels of stakeholder engagement. We have also taken extensive steps to provide businesses and citizens with advice and guidance aimed at helping to mitigate the potential impacts of no deal. Where necessary, we will continue to update our advice on gov.uk on how people should prepare. HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and the Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This funding is to cover all exit scenarios, and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU.

Pets: Animal Welfare

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the maintenance or improvement of animal welfare standards for pets after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: We have strong animal welfare standards for pets in this country, and have taken recent steps to enhance those protections including banning the third party sale of puppies and kittens, updating the companion animal welfare codes and introducing legislation to increase the maximum penalty for animal cruelty to 5 years imprisonment. These standards will be maintained when we leave the EU and we will look to strengthen standards further where supported by scientific and veterinary evidence.

Incinerators: Health Hazards

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page five of the Public Health England position statement on The Impact on Health of Emissions to Air from Municipal Waste Incinerators, what information he holds on the development of work in that area.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the Hon. Member to the reply given on 26 June 2019 to PQ 266068, which details PHE’s research in this area. PHE undertakes various air quality research projects, working with academic partners, to review the evidence for the health effects of air pollutants, regarding the health effects of particulate matter (PM0.1 and PM1). PHE is a partner in two health protection research units funded by the National Institute for Health Research, whose remit includes air pollution research. These projects can be viewed at the following link: http://www.hpru-ech.nihr.ac.uk/ PHE also draws on scientific studies and reviews published in the peer reviewed literature and by authoritative bodies.

Whales: Japan

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations the Government has made to the Government of Japan against its decision to resume commercial whaling.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We are very disappointed with Japan’s decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and restart commercial whaling. The Prime Minister raised concerns with Prime Minister Abe during his visit to the UK in January. The Secretary of State has written to his Japanese counterpart on this matter. We will continue to work with the Japanese Government to engage with them and raise our concerns at every level, and we urge them to rethink their decision.

Imports: Environment Protection

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to minimise negative ecological effects on carbon-rich, biodiversity-rich ecosystems throughout the world of UK imports of (a) soft commodities including (i) palm oil, (ii) soy, (iii) cocoa, (iv) rubber, (v) beef, and (vi) timber and (b) hard commodities including (A) minerals, (B) oil and gas, and (C) other products of mining; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to support and protect the world’s forests, support sustainable agriculture and work towards zero-deforestation supply chains. As part of this plan we are establishing a Global Resource Initiative (GRI) that will identify actions the UK can take across commodity supply chains to improve the sustainability of products and reduce deforestation. The GRI builds upon the Government’s work convening commodity-specific roundtables on palm oil and soya, two of the largest drivers of deforestation. The Government established the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in 2012 to improve reporting, traceability and understanding of supply chains to ensure continuous improvement and increased use of certified palm oil. The Roundtable’s latest annual report indicates that the UK achieved 75% certified sustainable palm oil in 2017, increasing from 16% in 2010. Our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will preserve our stock of material resources by minimising waste, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a circular economy approach, including by providing consumers with better information on the sustainability of their purchases. It also aims to minimise the damage caused to the natural environment by managing waste safely.

Environment Agency: Chief Scientific Advisers

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons the Environment Agency does not have a Chief Scientific Advisor.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency is not a Government department but it does have a Director of Research, Analysis and Evaluation who performs many of the functions that would be expected of that role.

Environment Agency: Scientific Advisers

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which scientific advisory committees the Environment Agency manages; and how advice from those committees has been used by the Environment Agency in the last 12 months.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency has a Scientific Advisory Group for the Strategic Monitoring Programme. It also convenes workshops of academics to give advice on issues, rather than having multiple standing groups. The Environment Agency also has links with the Defra Science Advisory Committee and other science advice mechanisms across Government.

Agriculture: Northumberland

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support farmers in Northumberland in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Agriculture Bill is part of the Government’s programme of critical legislation to deliver a smooth departure from the EU. We will create an ambitious new system based on paying “public money for public goods” including improving air and water quality and habitats for wildlife. Due to the environment and cultural and natural heritage of upland areas, fell farmers like those in Northumberland will be well placed to benefit from the new system which will reward farmers for the public value of the goods they provide. A smooth and gradual seven year transition away from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy will mean that farmers and land managers can plan ahead. The Government has already pledged to continue to support farmers financially by committing the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of this Parliament. As any responsible Government would, we are also preparing for the possibility of no deal, which is why we have contingency plans in place to minimise disruption for the food and farming sector as much as possible.

Sharks: Imports

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on an EU-wide ban on shark fin imports.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We have raised the issue of an EU-wide ban on shark fin imports with the EU Commission on a number of occasions and continue to push for stronger controls. We also successfully led the charge to ban shark finning across the EU. Leaving the EU will present us with the opportunity to consider whether the UK can go further in controlling the quantity of dried shark fins permitted for personal consumption.

Home Office

Home Office: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what preparations his Department is making for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement; and how much funding has been allocated to those preparations.

Caroline Nokes: The UK Government remains focussed on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possibleHowever, as a responsible government, we’ve been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal for nearly three years. The Home Office has been planning and preparing for a no deal scenario ensuring we have contingency plans in place across areas including law enforcement, passport operations and the border.  We have taken extensive steps to provide businesses and citizens with advice on helping them mitigate the potential impacts of a no deal exit. When necessary we will continue to update our advice on gov.uk/euexit on how people should prepareDuring the extension period, to underpin our ability to respond in a no deal scenario, we are working closely with operational partners to develop our response to a range of theoretical scenariosThe Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as £412m over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Autumn Statement 2016); £286m of additional funding for 2017/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 2017/18); over £1.5 billion for 2018/19 (Supplementary Estimates 2018/19); and over £2 billion for 2019/20 (Main Estimates 2019/20). This funding is to cover all exit scenarios and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU. Work on no-deal exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other EU exit work, given the significant overlap in plans in many cases.

Asylum

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how he plans to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate the support for newly recognised refugees under the new asylum advice and accommodation contracts.

Caroline Nokes: Accommodation and support services will continue for 28 days from when an asylum seeker has been granted asylum. During this period the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) Provider, Migrant Help, will assist newly recognised refugees to access local housing and benefit services through their dedicated ‘Move-On’ service. Within one working day of notification of the decision by the Home Office, Migrant Help will contact newly recognised refugees to help prepare them for their new lives in the UK.This improved service includes: providing information on the length of ‘grace period’ and next steps on support, accommodation and employment; booking an appointment with the local Department of Work and Pensions office for a ‘work focussed interview’; signposting Service Users to the relevant Local Authority housing team; and providing information on, and signposting Service Users to, relevant public services, local support networks and voluntary sector organisations.As part of the AIRE contracts, this service, will include clearly defined performance standards measured through a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set within a wider Performance Management Regime (PMR). These KPIs will be monitored formally at Contract Management meetings between the providers and representatives of UK Visas and Immigration and will be supported by a rigorous contract compliance regime that will ensure that the required performance standards are met.The Home Office and its Provider remains committed to working in partnership with local government and civil society to evaluate, develop and improve services.

Asylum: Children

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that children who make an asylum application in the UK are not incorrectly identified as adults.

Caroline Nokes: Age assessment is a highly complex and challenging area of work. There is no single method or combination of methods which can accurately predict age. The Home Office’s approach reflects our commitment to promote and safeguard the welfare of all children. A key part of this is identifying adults who are seeking to pass themselves off as children and ensuring that children are correctly identified at the earliest opportunity.Where clear and credible documentary evidence of age is not available, criteria including physical appearance and demeanour are used as part of the process to assess whether a person is under 18. In these circumstances, the Home Office will treat a person claiming to be a child as an adult only where their physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggest they are 25 years of age or over.When there is doubt about an individual’s claim to be a child, Home Office policy is to refer them to the relevant local authority to carry out a careful “Merton compliant” age assessment, which must be carried out by two social workers and must adhere to guidelines set out by the Courts.The Home Office keeps its policies and processes under review and we remain committed to striking the right balance between ensuring that children who claim asylum are appropriately supported and maintaining the integrity of the asylum system by preventing adults being treated as children.

Science: Research

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to support human-relevant science.

Mr Ben Wallace: This Government promotes advances in biomedical science and technologies that include stem cell research, in vitro systems that mimic the function of human organs, imaging and new computer modelling techniques.These advances are providing new opportunities to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research. Animals can only be used where there is no practicable alternatives and where the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) have been fully implemented. There are no plans to legislate for conducting human-relevant science.

Fire and Rescue Services: Yorkshire and the Humber

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents firefighters in the Yorkshire and Humber have attended in each year since 2010; and of those incidents how many were (a) fire incidents, (b) rescues and (c) other types of incidents.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) fire incidents, (b) rescues and (c) total incidents firefighters in South Yorkshire have attended in each year since 2010.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) fire incidents, (b) rescues and (c) total incidents firefighters in Barnsley have attended in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office published the latest statistics on incidents attended by fire and rescue services in 2017/18 on 9 May 2019. The number of total incidents, fires, rescue incidents and other emergency incidents attended by South Yorkshire fire and rescue service in each year are shown in the table below:YearTotal incidents FiresRescues1Other emergency incidents22010/1114,6008,4562415,9032011/1215,0709,2802125,5782012/1310,2785,0272015,0502013/1412,0716,4301845,4572014/1511,6535,3941966,0632015/1613,0045,8042096,9912016/1713,4526,0112047,2372017/1814,1676,6481987,3211 Includes rescue or evacuation from water, lift release, other rescue / release of persons2 Includes all other non-fire incidents and fire false alarmsThe number of total incidents, fires, rescue incidents and other emergency incidents attended by fire and rescue services in Yorkshire and Humber1 in each year are shown in the table below:YearTotal incidents FiresRescues2Other emergency incidents32010/1166,63428,9841,37936,2712011/1263,71528,6501,24633,8192012/1349,43117,8701,12130,4402013/1451,85321,19387429,7862014/1549,21418,73094629,5382015/1656,77120,0051,12135,6452016/1757,53921,10594435,4902017/1857,17022,70699033,4741 Includes Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire fire and rescue services2 Includes rescue or evacuation from water, lift release, other rescue / release of persons3 Includes all other non-fire incidents and fire false alarmsThe Home Office does not hold incident data for Barnsley as incident data is collected at a fire and rescue service level. Incidents attended in Barnsley are therefore included within the South Yorkshire totals.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress his Department has made on compensating people affected by the Windrush scandal.

Caroline Nokes: We will publish information on the number of claims submitted, number of claims paid and the overall amount paid out by the scheme in due course as part of our regular reporting to the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what preparations his Department is making for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement; and how much funding has been allocated to those preparations.

James Cleverly: As a responsible Government, we’ve been preparing to leave the EU for nearly three years. We are putting in place a range of preparations for all scenarios and the Department for Exiting the European Union’s role is in part to deliver and legislate for the UK’s smooth and orderly exit from the EU.The Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This funding is to cover all exit scenarios and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU. Work on no-deal exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other EU exit work, given the significant overlap in plans in many cases.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Overtime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the total amount of unpaid overtime worked by staff in his Department in the last 24 months.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Department for Exiting the European Union is committed to the wellbeing of its staff and ensuring that staff maintain a work-life balance. The Department has a range of flexible working policies in place to avoid excess working hours and complies with the EU Working Time Directive. If there are occasions when staff have to work extra hours, they may be able to claim overtime or time off in lieu for the additional hours worked.Working hours are managed locally with line managers and no central records are held of excess working hours that are not paid as overtime.

Treasury

Small Businesses: Corporation Tax

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of (a) R&D expenditure and (b) R&D tax credits as (i) payable credits and (ii) deductions to Corporation Tax for UK life science SMEs SIC codes (A) 21100, (B) 72110, (C) 72190 and (D) 86900 in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: HMRC publish annual statistics on Research & Development (R&D) tax reliefs: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/corporate-tax-research-and-development-tax-credit HMRC do not break down the statistics on R&D tax relief claims into the detailed sub-codes mentioned in the question, and this information would only be available at disproportionate cost. Support for businesses through R&D tax reliefs rose to £3.7 billion in 2015-16 (£1.8bn for the SME scheme and £1.9bn for the RDEC), up by almost a quarter from the previous year, supporting almost £29 billion of R&D expenditure. Within the ‘Professional, scientific & technical’ sector in 2015-16, there were 6,980 claims in the SME scheme worth £400m and SMEs also made 770 claims in the RDEC scheme worth £45m.

Sugar: Taxation

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue his Department received though collection of the sugar tax in the last 12 months.

Robert Jenrick: I refer the Right Honourable Member to the response given on 8th July 2019 to Parliamentary Question 272873.

Disability: Children

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to increase support for parents who care for disabled children at home.

Elizabeth Truss: Child Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a benefit for children under the age of 16 who, due to a disability or health condition, have mobility issues and/or require substantially more care, attention and supervision than children their age normally would. If a parent or carer is claiming Child Tax Credits (CTC) and their child is in receipt of DLA, they are also eligible for additional premiums on their award and for childcare support. Parents of disabled children may be also able to claim Carer’s Allowance.Universal Credit is designed to ensure that work pays and the most vulnerable in society are protected, making the system fair for claimants and those who are able to support themselves solely through work. The increased work allowance in Universal Credit from April 2019 is assisting 2.4 million working families, with children or with a disability, to become better off by £635 per year. The government is committed to protecting and supporting the most vulnerable in society. It is for that reason the government has continued to uprate disability and carer benefits by inflation, including the disability elements of tax credits.

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Members: Allowances

Dr David Drew: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how much the new system for reimbursing hon. Members' expenses cost to implement.

Mr Charles Walker: I have asked IPSA to reply.The original April 2016 business case for IPSA’s new IT system, IPSA Online, estimated a cost of £4.641 million. IPSA expected the programme to be completed in 2017-18. The full costs incurred to ensure IPSA could go live with IPSA Online at the beginning of the current financial year were £8.253 million.The increase in cost was due in part to the unexpected General Election of June 2017 which diverted IPSA work for up to nine months to supporting MPs who left or joined parliament, and increased supplier costs. Costs also increased following a change of suppliers in September 2018 to improve the quality of IT support. Testing the system took longer than anticipated in order to ensure it was fully secure and free of technical problems. The increases in cost have been partly mitigated by savings elsewhere in IPSA’s budget. A full internal audit of the programme is currently taking place. IPSA will report to the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA later in the year on the overall costs and benefits of IPSA Online.IPSA is committed to supporting MPs and their staff during this transition and will make appropriate adjustments to improve the system as it beds in, while ensuring strong financial control, improvements in value for money, and high data quality and data security.

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: ICT

Dr David Drew: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if the Commission will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of the new IPSA system.

Mr Charles Walker: I have asked IPSA to reply.The original April 2016 business case for IPSA’s new IT system, IPSA Online, estimated a cost of £4.641 million. IPSA expected the programme to be completed in 2017-18. The full costs incurred to ensure IPSA could go live with IPSA Online at the beginning of the current financial year were £8.253 million.The increase in cost was due in part to the unexpected General Election of June 2017 which diverted IPSA work for up to nine months to supporting MPs who left or joined parliament, and increased supplier costs. Costs also increased following a change of suppliers in September 2018 to improve the quality of IT support. Testing the system took longer than anticipated in order to ensure it was fully secure and free of technical problems. The increases in cost have been partly mitigated by savings elsewhere in IPSA’s budget. A full internal audit of the programme is currently taking place. IPSA will report to the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA later in the year on the overall costs and benefits of IPSA Online.IPSA is committed to supporting MPs and their staff during this transition and will make appropriate adjustments to improve the system as it beds in, while ensuring strong financial control, improvements in value for money, and high data quality and data security.